MVi is actively engaged with the Bounorng, Kouy, Stieng, Kreung, Prov, Laak, and Kavet communities in the provinces of Mondulkiri, Stung Treng, and Kratie. Over the years, MVi has implemented three strategic plans since 2006, focusing on supporting indigenous and rural communities in these three provinces. The strategic plan for the period 2023–2027 is designed to enhance the livelihoods and economic conditions of indigenous and vulnerable communities. This plan prioritizes four key areas: climate change, natural resource management, modern agriculture production (...) and market, and social accountability. Supporting the establishment and functionality of sub-national networks is not only a core value of MVi but also a strategic approach. MVi actively facilitates the formation of sub-national networks, including the indigenous youth network, indigenous women's network on NRM, and youth/child network on CEFM. These networks are crucial in promoting self-reliance and addressing specific issues. The performances of indigenous youths and women are evaluated based on their understanding of roles and responsibilities, dissemination of youth's roles in natural resource management, participation in trainings and seminars, organization of regular meetings, coordination with community leaders for various meetings and events, mobilization of youth members to address NRM issues, implementation of plans to protect natural resources, integration of NRM plans into commune investment plans, advocacy for NRM issues with networks and decision-makers, and collaboration with other communities for NRM discussions and actions. This paper aims to guide NGO staff on how to assess the performance of sub-national community networks focusing on natural resource management. (shrink)

In order to understand the transmission of a disease across a population we will have to understand not only the dynamics of contact infection but the transfer of health-care beliefs and resulting health-care behaviors across that population. This paper is a first step in that direction, focusing on the contrasting role of linkage or isolation between sub-networks in (a) contact infection and (b) belief transfer. Using both analytical tools and agent-based simulations we show that it is the structure of a (...) network that is primary for predicting contact infection—whether the networks or sub-networks at issue are distributed ring networks or total networks (hubs, wheels, small world, random, or scale-free for example). Measured in terms of time to total infection, degree of linkage between sub-networks plays a minor role. The case of belief is importantly different. Using a simplified model of belief reinforcement, and measuring belief transfer in terms of time to community consensus, we show that degree of linkage between sub-networks plays a major role in social communication of beliefs. Here, in contrast to the case of contract infection, network type turns out to be of relatively minor importance. What you believe travels differently. In a final section we show that the pattern of belief transfer exhibits a classic power law regardless of the type of network involved. (shrink)

In this paper we make a simple theoretical point using a practical issue as an example. The simple theoretical point is that robustness is not 'all or nothing': in asking whether a system is robust one has to ask 'robust with respect to what property?' and 'robust over what set of changes in the system?' The practical issue used to illustrate the point is an examination of degrees of linkage between sub-networks and a pointed contrast in robustness and fragility between (...) the dynamics of (1) contact infection and (2) information transfer or belief change. Time to infection across linked sub-networks, it turns out, is fairly robust with regard to the degree of linkage between them. Time to infection is fragile and sensitive, however, with regard to the type of sub-network involved: total, ring, small world, random, or scale-free. Aspects of robustness and fragility are reversed where it is belief updating with reinforcement rather than infection that is at issue. In information dynamics, the pattern of time to consensus is robust across changes in network type but remarkably fragile with respect to degree of linkage between sub-networks. These results have important implications for public health interventions in realistic social networks, particularly with an eye to ethnic and socio-economic sub-communities, and in social networks with sub-communities changing in structure or linkage. (shrink)

In this chapter I articulate and defend a basic principle capturing the underlying structure of an attractive sort of national reconciliation that accounts for a wide array of disparate judgments about the subject. There are extant theories of national reconciliation in the literature, most of which are informed by Kantian, liberal-democratic and similar perspectives. In contrast to these, I spell out a theory grounded on a comparatively underexplored sub-Saharan ethic. My foremost aim is to demonstrate how African ideals (...) about communal relationship, still largely unfamiliar to an international audience, do a promising job of providing a unified foundation for the roles of truth-telling, apology, forgiveness, compensation, amnesty and related practices often associated with national reconciliation. (shrink)

With English as a universal language and a central player in a globalized digital world, the need for an acceptable level of teacher ICT application skills, competence among teachers of English is necessary. The Government of Kenya (GoK) has put in concerted efforts to propel Kenya towards vision 2030 by investing in ICT integration in curriculum implementation, to equip a professional teacher with ICT skills for quality classroom practices and satisfactory learner performance in national examinations. Despite the efforts by (...) the GoK to equip teachers with ICT skills for good results in English, Kenya National Examinations Council (2022) contends, overall performance in English for the past 5 years falls short of the average mean of 50% and relentless effort from teachers is still required. The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of teacher level of ICT application skills on implementation of English curriculum in public secondary schools in Kakamega North Sub-County, Kenya. The study used descriptive research design. A sample of 44 principals, 88 teachers of English and 345 form three students across the 50 public secondary schools in Kakamega North Sub-County, Kenya, were targeted. A questionnaire, interview schedule, classroom practice observation schedule, and focus group discussion guide were used to collect data. Qualitative data was analyzed thematically whereas quantitative data was presented through tables, percentages and frequencies. Chi-square test was performed to test hypothesis. Response rate was 79.5%. The findings indicated that there were teachers who neither participated in ICT workshops (67.1%) nor attended conferences on choice of teaching and learning materials (47.1%), a gap pointing on teachers. Interviews and FGD results show, teacher level of ICT application skills is crucial if quality results are to be realized. The study found a significant association between teacher level of ICT application skills and implementation of English curriculum in school. The study concluded, teacher level of ICT skills in teaching of English is a major concern. (shrink)

Through the prism of archipelicity, the artistic production of the Afro-American Diaspora reveals its diffractive potential: at once close to and far from its original origins, it unfolds in the in-between of a double consciousness. In his seminal essay, Paul Gilroy calls for the overcoming of binary oppositions in order to better apprehend the complexity of Afro-diasporic intellectual culture, which he sees as specifically transnational (Gilroy, 1993). As inclusive as this theoretical framework may seem, it is challenged by the inherent (...) transcoloniality of the artistic dynamics animating the region of the Black Island Americas. To this day, avatars of the colonial model persist in the Lesser and Greater Antilles and in the majority of the coastal nations of the Caribbean basin. To a certain extent, these schemes continue to influence the aesthetic-political choices of the region’s visual artists and performers, while providing them with symbolic codes that can be interpreted as signs of belonging to the Afro-Trans American diaspora. It is therefore a challenge to claim any form of diasporic citizenship in such a shifting and uncertain configuration. What is thought to be relevant from an individual or community perspective may prove to be institutionally subversive. In the syncretic tradition of Cuba and Brazil, the same code can be given different semiotic meanings depending on the political and pragmatic context. This article therefore takes an ethno-critical look at the contribution of such practices to the broader framework of archipelagic networks and map zones of Afro-diasporic connectivity in a trans-American context. (shrink)

The conceptual model of United Nations reform - "UN 3.0" includes the General Program of Action on UN Reform, consisting of two stages. The first stage for 2020-2025 envisages the transformation of the main organs of the UN - the General Assembly and the Security Council with measures to improve the effectiveness of the management system, address the "veto problem", problem of financing, improve staff work and administrative and financial control, strengthen UN media, improvement of work with the global civil (...) society. The General Assembly is converted into the General All-Parliamentary Assembly of the UN. In the structure of the Assembly, the Council for Law is being established, which coordinates the activities of UN structures in the field of law. To coordinate the activities of the UN in the field of human rights and civil society, ethical issues, the General all-parliamentary Assembly creates the Council on ethics, human rights and civil society and transforms the Committee on information into the Council on public information and communication with civil society. The structure of the Council includes all UN media. The reform of the UN Security Council is carried out in three sub-stages. At the 1st sub-stage (2020-2021) the Security Council is transformed into the Council of Existential Security (CES). The membership of the CES is increased to 25 member countries, of which five countries have the right of the unconditional (absolute, eternal) veto: Great Britain, France, China, Russian Federation, USA. The General All-Parliamentary Assembly elects 15 new permanent members of the Council of Existential Security with the right of the conditional (limited) veto: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Mexico, South Africa, Nigeria, Pakistan , Turkey, Japan (if they fulfill the mandatory restrictive conditions). At this sub-stage, the CES elects also five non-permanent members with the right of a conditional (limited) veto when they meet the mandatory restrictive conditions, with a rotation period of 2 years from geographical regions (or regional unions): Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific Ocean (2 places), Eastern Europe. On the second sub-stage (2022-2023), subject to the effective activity of the CES of the enlarged composition and compliance with mandatory restrictive conditions, new permanent members of the "Existential Security Council" are elected with the right of a conditional (limited) veto: Iran, Spain, Poland, Saudi Arabia. Members of the CES may be regional unions, whose member countries are not represented in the CES, but still have one vote with the right of a conditional (limited) veto. -/- Two essential levels of the veto: 1. Unconditional (absolute, eternal) veto is the historical right of veto of the five permanent members of the Council of Existential Security - Great Britain, China, Russia, USA, France; 2. Сonditional (limited) veto is the veto of other permanent and non-permanent members of the Council of Existential Security. The right of veto is a unique international school for the achievement of consensus, a school of high democracy for Humanity, a reliable guarantee of the viability of the UN structure. The Council for Existential Security centralises the management of the UN subsidiary bodies with the expansion of their security functions: the Military Staff Committee, the Counter-Terrorism Committee, the Committee for the Prevention of the Spread of Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Weapons, the Sanctions Committees and other committees. On the basis of the decision of the Council of Existential Security, the General All-Parliamentary Assembly creates permanent contingents of UN peacekeeping and counter-terrorism forces. In addition, two Centers are being created in the structure of the Council for Existential Security: the World Center for the Elimination of the Effects of Technogenic and Natural Disasters with branches on all continents and the World Center for the Analysis of Existential Risks and the Overall Security Strategy. The Center is developing the Programs of research and monitoring of global existential threats and risks. In order to increase the level of legitimacy and authority of the Secretary General of the United Nations, the Rules of procedure for elections to this post are changing. Each member country of the Council for Existential Security represents one of the most authoritative candidates for election to the post of Secretary General at the session of the General All-Parliamentary Assembly, with the possibility of nominating candidates from other countries, including those not members of the Council for Existential Security. Elections are held in two rounds during one day of the session of the Assembly. The Legal Committee of the UN General Assembly is developing a Program for the Reform of the Judicial System of the United Nations, which takes into account the proposals of the previous international discussion and determines the scope and terms of the reform of the courts. In accordance with the Program of Action on UN Reform for 2020-2025, reforms are under way in the structure of the Economic and Social Council. The central task of the reform is to strengthen the coordinating role of ECOSOC in the entire system of UN-related specialized agencies, funds and programs related to the Council. The key task of the UN reform is the solution of the financing problem. A unified "UN Open Budget "Solidarity XXI" is being created, including the financing of peacekeeping operations and other expenses. Each country, a member of the United Nations, lists in an established period, once a year, an Existential contribution - the Earth Tax. The Earth Tax for each UN member state is established on the basis of four scales of calculation: Scale I - for 5 permanent members of the Council of Existential Security, who have the right of absolute (absolute) veto; Scale II - for the permanent members of the SEB, who have the right to a conditional (limited) veto; Scale III - for non-permanent members of the SEB, who have the right to a conditional (limited) veto; Scale IV - for all other UN member countries. The program of action on UN reform includes a set of measures to ensure transparent work of the International Civil Service Commission with the involvement of the UN media. To strengthen control functions in the sphere of personnel policy, administrative and financial management, the General All-Parliamentary Assembly of the United Nations establishes the Permanent Commission on Ethics and Administrative and Financial Control. All members of the Commission, members of the Committees and auditors are independent in their activities from the leadership of the United Nations, its funds and programs. The General All-Parliamentary Assembly completes the first stage of the Program of Action on UN Reform in 2025 and, following an open discussion, introduces a single language of international communication - Esperanto and approves it as the official language of the United Nations. With a view to more effective work of the central UN governing bodies in the face of increasing existential threats and risks, reducing the current expenses for the maintenance of the central bodies of the UN, the Council for Existential Security and the General All-Parliamentary Assembly decide on the relocation of the UN headquarters to Iceland. The UN building complex in New York is transferred to preferential use of non-governmental organizations, which contribute to the implementation of the goals of the United Nations. At the second stage of the UN reform in the period 2026-2028, additional necessary transformations are being made in the UN system. At the end of the first stage of the reform, taking into account the reforms carried out by the main organs of the United Nations and the internal improvement of the work of all its structures, the United Nations Program of Action for the years 2026-2028 is being developed. (shrink)

One of the still unsolved problems in liberal anarchism is a definition of social constituency in positive terms. Partially, this had been solved by the advancements of liberal discourse ethics. These approaches, built on praxeology as a universal framework for social formation, are detached from the need of any previous or external authority or rule for the discursive partners. However, the relationship between action, personal identity, and liberty within the process of a community becoming solely generated from the praxeological (...) a priori remains largely disputed. In order to develop a testable constitutional model, this study revises how the “ontological turn” was introduced into liberal theories and redefines the concept of liberty. Liberty is usually understood as a moral goal or measurement for just actions, as the generative principle of all social existence - individual and interpersonal. For this purpose, the function of performative contradiction within the mechanism of interpersonal “encounter”, as part of the co-generative process of the individual becoming and social formation was explored through the production of a game-based narrative historiography grounded on 19th century life writings. This narrative historiography was developed in the context of Swiss history, with a “design-based” research approach, and resulted in a prototype for networked storytelling through which the transformative learning process could be visible and the negotiation of competing individual visions of the future could be re-enacted. (shrink)

This article concentrates on a couple of semiotic approaches working out, on the one hand, the mediated character of reducing interpretative trajectories to the actual translation into the language of narratives (A. J. Greimas) or the language of textuality (F. Rastier), and, on the other, the direct, apparently unmediated passage to the visceral physicality of the verbal signifying system, which make semantic and syntactic components perfunctory to interpretation in a way (J. Kristeva). Greimassian universal narrative grammar dismantles signifying units, navigating (...) in the network of narrative utterances. Rastier's approach structures textual artifacts by unearthing semantic constituents crucial for semiotic analysis. Kristeva examines what is behind the curtain instead of sorting out the significance of the text's content as a special category and the possibility of procedure allowing its interpretation. These three authors are compared in the context of two approaches that come to grips with the author/reader pair. (shrink)

This thesis under the title “Public Health Policy in Resource Allocation: the Role of Ubuntu Ethics in Redressing Resource Disparity between Public and Private Healthcare in South Africa” explores health care disparities pertaining to resource allocation between public and private sector. It is of relevance and importance in South Africa where 54% of the population live on less than US$3 per day. Although the government has instituted certain changes aimed at transforming the public health care system, the resource allocation gap (...) between the two persists and remains wide. The research gives special attention to the role that Ubuntu ethics can play in redressing the resource allocation disparities between public and private health care sectors in South Africa, pointing out the existing gap in financing, as well as human resource between public and private health care sectors, which leads to poor health outcomes in public sector. Therefore, the problem is the prevalent inequality of resource allocation between private and public health care sectors. The analysis of policy gaps, as well as evaluating the cause of disparities in the health system is the goal of this research. The study endeavours to redress the disparities within the context of Ubuntu ethical principles and proposes a change in public policy so as to enhance healthcare for the benefit of the people. The study is philosophical and ethical, so the methodology used is discursive in nature, majorly focusing on critically reviewing existing literature, that is, the philosophical resources on Ubuntu ethics and justice theories as well as a range of government resources inclusive of public health policy documents. Social determinants of health and their impact in a South African context are discussed with the implication that health is not merely freedom from disease and or incapacity, but rather being well mentally, physically and socially. The attainment of a healthy status goes beyond ability to access healthcare services, and incorporates social determinants including but not limited to conditions in which people have been born into, stay, establish career and grow old in. It also includes the arrangements put in place to deal with illness and determine health. Issues of revenue, literacy, communal safety networks, vocation and conditions under-which vocation is undertaken, lack of work and vocation insecurity, early stages of human development, gender, cultural group, dietary insecurity, housing communal exclusion and disability all come into the picture as factors that determine health. But there is also discussion of the socio-economic status as contributors to health inequity wherein alcohol abuse, sugar intake, and smoking are identified as behavioural factors that complicate public health. One outstanding feature of this research is that it establishes a link between Ubuntu and public health policy. The researcher establishes that Ubuntu ethics is appropriate for not only discussing public morality, but also for formulating public policy that is morally tenable for South Africa, especially for the public health sector. This thesis calls for an application of Ubuntu in a proper context in order to enhance societal well-being for the benefit of many, if not all. The research proposes the fundamental principle of Ubuntu ethics in which the good of the community is as important as the good of every member of the community. Since Ubuntu ethics does not merely seek to fulfil what benefits the majority, as would be the case in a utilitarian society, the researcher advocates for the building of consensus on the common good, which should be understood to imply not just what is good for everyone in the community, but also what is good for the continued well-being of the community as a single unit. In this regard, the research finds it important that deliberate effort be made to integrate Ubuntu ethics into policies, citing the example of the National Health Insurance (NHI). The good health of all the members of a community is an assurance of the well-being and continuity of the whole national community. The research concludes that public health policy should integrate Ubuntu ethical values such as community, sharing, care, solidarity, identity, harmony, respect, and dignity into policy documents and legislation. (shrink)

In this essay we collect and put together a number of ideas relevant to the under- standing of the phenomenon of creativity, confining our considerations mostly to the domain of cognitive psychology while we will, on a few occasions, hint at neuropsy- chological underpinnings as well. In this, we will mostly focus on creativity in science, since creativity in other domains of human endeavor have common links with scientific creativity while differing in numerous other specific respects. We begin by briefly (...) introducing a few basic notions relating to cognition, among which the notion of ‘concepts’ is of basic relevance. The myriads of concepts lodged in our mind constitute a ‘conceptual space’ of an enormously complex structure, where con- cepts are correlated by beliefs that are themselves made up of concepts and are as- sociated with emotions. The conceptual space, moreover, is perpetually in a state of dynamic evolution that is once again of a complex nature. A major component of the dynamic evolution is made up of incessant acts of inference, where an inference occurs essentially by means of a succession of correlations among concepts set up with beliefs and heuristics, the latter being beliefs of a special kind, namely, ones relatively free of emotional associations and possessed of a relatively greater degree of justification. Beliefs, along with heuristics, have been described as the ‘mind’s software’, and con- stitute important cognitive components of the self-linked psychological resources of an individual. The self is the psychological engine driving all our mental and physical activity, and is in a state of ceaseless dynamics resulting from one’s most intimate ex- periences of the world accumulating in the course of one’s journey through life. Many of our psychological resources are of a dual character, having both a self-linked and a shared character, the latter being held in common with larger groups of people and imbibed from cultural inputs. We focus on the privately held self-linked beliefs of an individual, since these are presumably of central relevance in making possible inductive inferences – ones in which there arises a fundamental need of adopting a choice or making a decision. Beliefs, decisions, and inferences, all have the common link to the self of an individual and, in this, are fundamentally analogous to free will, where all of these have an aspect of non-determinism inherent in them. Creativity involves a major restructuring of the conceptual space where a sustained inferential process eventually links remote conceptual domains, thereby opening up the possibility of a large number of new correlations between remote concepts by a cascading process. Since the process of inductive inference depends crucially on de- cisions at critical junctures of the inferential chain, it becomes necessary to examine the basic mechanism underlying the making of decisions. In the framework that we attempt to build up for the understanding of scientific creativity, this role of decision making in the inferential process assumes central relevance. With this background in place, we briefly sketch the affect theory of decisions. Affect is an innate system of response to perceptual inputs received either from the exter- nal world or from the internal physiological and psychological environment whereby a positive or negative valence gets associated with a perceptual input. Almost every sit- uation faced by an individual, even one experienced tacitly, i.e., without overt aware-ness, elicits an affective response from him, carrying a positive or negative valence that underlies all sorts of decision making, including ones carried out unconsciously in inferential processes. Referring to the process of inferential exploration of the conceptual space that gener- ates the possibility of correlations being established between remote conceptual do- mains, such exploration is guided and steered at every stage by the affect system, analogous to the way a complex computer program proceeds through junctures where the program ascertains whether specified conditions are met with by way of generating appropriate numerical values – for instance, the program takes different routes, depending on whether some particular numerical value turns out to be positive or negative. The valence generated by the affect system in the process of adoption of a choice plays a similar role which therefore is of crucial relevance in inferential processes, especially in the exploration of the conceptual space where remote domains need to be linked up – the affect system produces a response along a single value dimension, resembling a number with a sign and a magnitude. While the affect system plays a guiding role in the exploration of the conceptual space, the process of exploration itself consists of the establishment of correlations between concepts by means of beliefs and heuristics, the self-linked ones among the latter having a special role in making possible the inferential journey along alternative routes whenever the shared rules of inference become inadequate. A successful access to a remote conceptual domain, necessary for the creative solution of a standing problem or anomaly – one that could not be solved within the limited domain hitherto accessed – requires a phase of relatively slow cumulative search and then, at some stage, a rapid cascading process when a solution is in sight. Representing the conceptual space in the form of a complex network, the overall process can be likened to one of self-organized criticality commonly observed in the dynamical evolution of complex systems. In order that inferential access to remote domains may actually be possible, it is necessary that restrictions on the exploration process – necessary for setting the context in ordinary instances of inductive inference – be relaxed and a relatively free exploration in a larger conceptual terrain be made possible. This is achieved by the mind going into the default mode, where external constraints – ones imposed by shared beliefs and modes of exploration – are made inoperative. While explaining all these various aspects of the creative process, we underline the supremely important role that analogy plays in it. Broadly speaking, analogy is in the nature of a heuristic, establishing correlations between concepts. However, analo- gies are very special in that these are particularly effective in establishing correlations among remote concepts, since analogy works without regard to the contiguity of the concepts in the conceptual space. In establishing links between concepts, analogies have the power to light up entire terrains in the conceptual space when a rapid cas- cading of fresh correlations becomes possible. The creative process occurs within the mind of a single individual or of a few closely collaborating individuals, but is then continued by an entire epistemic community, eventually resulting in a conceptual revolution. Such conceptual revolutions make pos- sible the radical revision of scientific theories whereby the scope of an extant theory is broadened and a new theoretical framework makes its appearance. The emerging theory is characterized by a certain degree of incommensurability when compared with the earlier one – a feature that may appear strange at first sight. But incommen- surability does not mean incompatibility and the apparently contrary features of the relation between the successive theories may be traced to the multi-layered structureof the conceptual space where concepts are correlated not by means of single links but by multiple ones, thereby generating multiple layers of correlation, among which some are retained and some created afresh in a conceptual restructuring. We conclude with the observation that creativity occurs on all scales. Analogous to correlations being set up across domains in the conceptual space and new domains being generated, processes with similar features can occur within the confines of a domain where a new layer of inferential links may be generated, connecting up sub- domains. In this context, insight can be looked upon as an instance of creativity within the confines of a domain of a relatively limited extent. (shrink)

"Is research in social sciences in Vietnam lagging behind?" is the big question that Prof. Vuong Quan Hoang from NVSSH, a network of researchers in social sciences and humanities under Phenikka University, and his co-workers conducted a survey to find why this had occurred.

The research identified the key element on P. R. China’s incentives in modern history on techtransfer practices. With reviewing on the state funding surrogacy in the natural sciences, the author identified the key militant coercive contracting clauses in the document of the National Natural Science Foundation of China. With its combined workings with the statutory & martial laws, the analysis takes a com- parative culture approach that partially counteracts the work of the “United Front Working Group of the CPC”, (...) which constitutes as the major cyber espionage organization that manifests upon the communication & information technologies. The “United Front”’s work has substabtially undermined the premices of market economy and eroded the markets’ self-organizing & self-regulating functionalities. With heterogenous semantic networks taken into consideration, the psychosociological elements were taken into consideration even with the psychological data codings in the semantic networks of P. R. China. (shrink)

The paper was intended to make a tentative point about the organizational reform and types of organization, i.e., international, national and private. The author explores in the basics of public administration and contextualizes the variables often employed critically for the discipline of public policy and administration. They would include, for instance, the democratic principles,importance of communication and negotiation, the concept of policy network, diversity, technology and ethics, which are applied and argued over the transition from 1947 GATT to (...) a WTO nauguration in 1995. The present study of organizations or their reform would assively be consulted for the national or private reform, which tends to shed a focus on the legal perspective, organizational efficiency and reform. The studies in variance with the types of organization or institutional agenda, as well as in the viewpoint of public policy and administration are generally lacking or insufficient, at least, less systemic or fragmented. While the WTO has made much accomplishment since its inception, it would equally be true that the criticism and new vision had been raised and will be likely ahead. As it is one of the most dynamic and active international organizations, the author likes to exemplify it to test a scope of policy variables as interactive with the last and extended renovation in 1987-1994, which continue to be relevant with the new agendas and vision for a better paradigm of WTO and as an international organization. The author also expects that the future research can develop a set of distinct elements in response with the types of organization and from the viewpoint of public administration. (shrink)

The Rohingyas, the longest-standing stateless refugees in Malaysia, are continuously denied access to formal education. The UN Refugee Agency and local non-government organizations run learning centers that offer non-formal education to Rohingya children. Existing literature highlights that, in the absence of formal openings, alternative educational programmes remain the main provider of refugee education in Malaysia. This study, using the Inter-Agency Network for Education in Emergencies' five-domain framework, examines the educational standards provided to Rohingya refugees in Malaysia. The findings suggest (...) that most learning centers lack financial, human, and infrastructural resources. Lack of opportunity for secondary schooling makes primary education less worth it. Moreover, prevailing cultural and religious norms make it challenging for Rohingya children (especially girls) to access educational opportunities outside the community. National examinations and academic accreditation for learning are inaccessible to refugees, including Rohingyas. This paper deliberates on some immediate and long-term measures that can potentially address these issues. However, all actors, including UNHCR and the Malaysian government, must collaborate towards formulating a sustainable solution to this critical problem. (shrink)

This study focuses on the ideas of Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt, the most influential thinkers of recent period, about the concepts of the Empire, Multitude and Biopolitical production. These concepts being at the center of contemporary political discussions problematise the ideaitonal foundations of the idea of Empire evaluated as a new form of sovereignty, the economic transformation in the contemporary capitalism and the new form of subjectivity in this age. To Negri and Hardt, Empire is seen as a logic (...) of network operating at global level and a new logic of sovereignty and governance going beyond the political boundaries of nation states as form of sovereignty. In this regard, multitude is evaluated as a collective and joint social subject against the power and command forms of empire. As for biopolitical production, it is defined as the production of life in which feelings, symbols, communication and cooperation go beyond the understanding that centers the production of tangible goods within the capitalist production and work organization. These three concepts draw an important framework in terms of understanding the economic, political transformation of the contemporary world. In this study, it was aimed at interpreting the nature of global changes brought forward by the Negri and Hardt thought within the boundaries of these three concepts. (shrink)

A crucial socio-political challenge for our age is how to rede!ne or extend group membership in such a way that it adequately responds to phenomena related to globalization like the prevalence of migration, the transformation of family and social networks, and changes in the position of the nation state. Two centuries ago Immanuel Kant assumed that international connectedness between humans would inevitably lead to the realization of world citizen rights. Nonetheless, globalization does not just foster cosmopolitanism but simultaneously yields the (...) development of new group boundaries. Group membership is indeed a fundamental issue in political processes, for: “the primary good that we distribute to one another is membership in some human community” – it is within the political community that power is being shared and, if possible, held back from non-members. In sum, it is appropriate to consider group membership a fundamental ingredient of politics and political theory. How group boundaries are drawn is then of only secondary importance. Indeed, Schmitt famously declared that “[e]very religious, moral, economic, ethical, or other antithesis transforms into a political one if it is suffciently strong to group human beings e#ectively according to friend and enemy”. Even though Schmitt’s idea of politics as being constituted by such antithetical groupings is debatable, it is plausible to consider politics among other things as a way of handling intergroup di#erences. Obviously, some of the group-constituting factors are more easily discernable from one’s appearance than others, like race, ethnicity, or gender. As a result, factors like skin color or sexual orientation sometimes carry much political weight even though individuals would rather con!ne these to their private lives and individual identity. Given the potential tension between the political reality of particular groupmembership defnitions and the – individual and political – struggles against those definitions and corresponding attitudes, citizenship and civic behavior becomes a complex issue. As Kymlicka points out, it implies for citizens an additional obligation to non-discrimination regarding those groups: “[t]his extension of non-discrimination from government to civil society is not just a shift in the scale of liberal norms, it also involves a radical extension in the obligations of liberal citizenship”. Unfortunately, empirical research suggests that political intolerance towards other groups “may be the more natural and ‘easy’ position to hold”. Indeed, since development of a virtue of civility or decency regarding other groups is not easy, as it often runs against deeply engrained stereotypes and prejudices, political care for matters like education is justified. Separate schools, for example, may erode children’s motivation to act as citizens, erode their capacity for it and!nally diminish their opportunities to experience transcending their particular group membership and behave as decent citizens. This chapter outlines a possible explanation for such consequences. That explanation will be found to be interdisciplinary in nature, combining insights from political theory and cognitive neuroscience. In doing so, it does not focus on collective action, even though that is a usual focus for political studies. For example, results pertaining to collective political action have demonstrated that the relation between attitudes and overt voting behavior or political participation is not as direct and strong as was hoped for. Several conditions, including the individual’s experiences, self-interest, and relevant social norms, turned out to interfere in the link between his or her attitude and behavior. Important as collective action is, this chapter is concerned with direct interaction between agents and the in$uence of group membership on such interaction – in particular joint action. Although politics does include many forms of action that require no such physical interaction, such physical interaction between individuals remains fundamental to politics – this is the reason why separate schooling may eventually undermine the citizenship of its isolated pupils. This chapter will focus on joint action, de!ned as: “any form of social interaction whereby two or more individuals coordinate their actions in space and time to bring about a change in the environment”. Cognitive neuroscienti!c evidence demonstrates that for such joint action to succeed, the agents have to integrate the actions and expected actions of the other person in their own action plans at several levels of speci!city. Although neuroscienti!c research is necessarily limited to simple forms of action, this concurs with a philosophical analysis of joint action, which I will discuss below. (shrink)

Beyond belief change and meme adoption, both genetics and infection have been spoken of in terms of information transfer. What we examine here, concentrating on the specific case of transfer between sub-networks, are the differences in network dynamics in these cases: the different network dynamics of germs, genes, and memes. Germs and memes, it turns out, exhibit a very different dynamics across networks. For infection, measured in terms of time to total infection, it is network type rather (...) than degree of linkage between sub-networks that is of primary importance. For belief transfer, measured in terms of time to consensus, it is degree of linkage rather than network type that is crucial. Genes model each of these other dynamics in part, but match neither in full. For genetics, like belief transfer and unlike infection, network type makes little difference. Like infection and unlike belief, on the other hand, the dynamics of genetic information transfer within single and between linked networks are much the same. In ways both surprising and intriguing, transfer of genetic information seems to be robust across network differences crucial for the other two. (shrink)

The outcomes of a bibliographic review on political communication, in particular electoral communication in social networks, are presented here. The electoral campaigning are a crucial test to verify the transformations of the media system and of the forms and uses of the linguistic acts by dominant actors in public sphere – candidates, parties, journalists and Gatekeepers. The aim is to reconstruct the first elements of an analytical model on the transformations of the political public sphere, with which to systematize the (...) results of the main empirical research carried out in recent years, in particular those conducted with a promising methodology: Digital Trace Data Analysis. (shrink)

The study was conducted to explore teachers’ experiences in the delivery of science subjects during the first school year of implementation of distance learning. The teachers’ experiences in the delivery of science subjects served as a reference for formulating innovation to make learning effective in distance learning modality. The data for this study were collected through an interview schedule. It was done through one-on-one in-depth interviews with each participant with the observance of COVID-19 safety protocols. The interviews with all participants (...) were audio-recorded. The data were transcribed verbatim by repeatedly listening to the recorded audio recording. Transcribed verbatim responses were then translated into English. After that, significant statements were determined from all participants’ responses. Lastly, themes and sub-themes were generated from the participants’ significant statements. Based on the result of this study, the following themes have been generated: preparation experiences, adjustment experiences, and unpleasant experiences. Preparations experienced by the participants were professional development, learning resource preparations, and aligning lessons to MELCs. The participants also had adjustment experiences, including content modification and ICT utilization. Also, unpleasant experiences by the participants were an overwhelming workload, complex communication, problems with assessment, and poor student learning. All the teachers’ experiences identified by the Hilongos National Vocational School junior high school teachers serve as the basis for formulating an innovation project. An innovation project for the new normal will address the unpleasant experiences of the teachers. Hence, the innovation project on improving students’ learning for science subjects in a distance learning modality must be utilized to cater to the needs of the school’s clients, the learners. The study concluded that an innovation project on improving students’ learning of science subjects is necessary to equip the Science Teachers of Hilongos National Vocational School with skills to improve the delivery of science subjects in the new normal. It is also recommended to alleviate teachers’ workload, strengthen communications, address problems in assessment, and improve students’ learning. (shrink)

The precarious rights of senior citizens, especially those who are highly educated and who are expected to counsel and guide the younger generations, has stimulated the creation internationally of advocacy associations and opinion leader groups. The strength of these groups, however, varies from country to country. In some countries, they are supported and are the focus of intense interest; in others, they are practically ignored. For this is reason we believe that the creation of a network of all these (...) associations is essential. The proposed network would act as a support for the already-existing policies of the United Nations’ High Commission for Human Rights, of independent experts, and of the Global Alliance for the Rights of Older People. All three have long ago recommended the creation of a recognized instrument for uniting presently scattered efforts. The proposed network, therefore, will seek to promote the international exchange of relevant expertise, and it will reinforce the commitments and actions that single countries are currently taking to meet these objectives. For example, informative public events can be organised to promote particular support initiatives and to provide an opportunity for new members of the network to be presented. The network will promote health for senior citizens, disease prevention, senior mobility, safe free time for seniors, alimentary education, protection against new risks and dangers, as well as equity in the services necessary for seniors to adopt new information and communication technologies. In the case of retired academic members, the network will promote equality with respect to continuing use of digital technologies (particularly email), continuing access to research libraries, and the guaranteed ability for seniors to fund their own research programs and to deliver free seminars. (shrink)

Cultural communication has obliquely shapes society relationships with another for the sake of togetherness prosperity. Diversity of norms and values from cultural symbols are able to be transferred as connecting elements in order to create interaction that is based on mutual comprehension of cultural norms. This study objective is to comprehend Bawean ethnic's cultural communication symbol. Employing qualitative methods, social construction paradigm is perceived through in-depth interview. This methodology adapted to realize the meaning of cultural communication between Bawaean and the (...) other Malay sub-ethnicity. There are one main informant and ten other informant whom have been interviewed face-to-face. The result has shown that Bawean ethnic's cultural communication symbol such as language, cuisine, martial arts and religious rituals are the main elements in Bawean ethnic's cultural communication. In conclusion, cultural communication between Bawean ethnic and other ethnic has taken place according to the situations as either inside or outside the group. Cultural similarities has facilitate cultural communication tranquility. It creates social integration with relation to the ethnic relationship processes such as acculturation, accommodation and integration. (shrink)

Migration has, in recent years, been one of the most current topics both in Croatia and worldwide. We have witnessed increased emigration (i.e. out-migration) of Croatian citizens, as well as attempts to cross the Croatian state border by citizens of other countries. This book focuses on migration in the context of the so-called migrant and refugee crisis, which is considered from a philosophical and sociological perspective. Any gender-specific terms, irrespective of the gender in which they are used here, refer equally (...) to both men and women. The book came into being as part of a study conducted by the authors in 2019 among students at the University of Split. This was one of the activities carried out within the project entitled Creating welcoming communities, which was coordinated by the Association "MI" – Split, with the support of the UNHCR’s (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) Representation in Croatia. The main objective of the project was to improve the conditions for better integration of asylum seekers at the local and regional level, with a special emphasis on local stakeholders and the community. The objective and activities of the project reflect and anticipate relocation policies and work towards analysing, valorising, and developing recommendations for the preparation of the local community and self-government to provide support. In this regard, we can say that the aim of the project is a contribution of sorts to creating a welcoming atmosphere and better conditions for integration through cooperation with institutions, and especially with the academic community. The project activities were intended to include relevant scientific findings that would enable the interested public to gain a more systematic understanding of the current social situation as well as to promote the idea of the possibilities of achieving a higher integration standard. In the complex social circumstances of today, which require understanding and adaptation, in addition to adequate access to accurate information, it is also crucial to ensure and facilitate the forming of inter-sectoral networks that would respond more readily to existing challenges. This primarily requires knowledge exchange, but also cooperation between different stakeholders such as public institutions, local and state government, civil society organisations, the academic community, media, etc. All these stakeholders play an equally important role in establishing a support network for a multitude of beneficiaries within the integration process. The establishment of a support network for the reception and integration of asylum seekers depends on the support of the local population in the broadest sense. One of the aims of the study was to analyse the relationship between the respondents’ identity features and their attitudes on accepting immigrants and refugees. The structure of the survey is based on the following objectives within which we sought to identify: 1) students’ attitudes on immigration, immigrants, and refugees, 2) the perceived sociodemographic profiles of immigrants and refugees, 3) the eventual presence of social distance towards immigrants and refugees. For the sake of clarity and better presentation, the second and third research objectives are analytically separated from the first one, although, in fact, a connection exists between them. How students perceive migration, immigrants, and refugees plays a role in shaping their attitudes towards them, as well as in potential behaviours reflected in the degree of social distance. From the sociological perspective, identity is seen as the way we perceive ourselves and others, as well as the way we are perceived by others. It involves sameness, similarity and difference concerning various groups of individuals (Abercrombie, Hill & Turner, 2006:190). Identity is associated with the meanings individuals and groups attach to their social reality, resulting in different forms of action. As such, it becomes one of the central political, scientific, and social topics in general. The book is structured in six chapters. Following the introduction, the first chapter presents the theoretical framework on which the conducted research is based. It goes on to elaborate on the concepts significant for a better understanding of the covered topic, in particular the concept of identity, the differences between the concepts of immigrant and refugee, as well as the frameworks of philosophical reflection on migration (the philosophy of politics and ethics). As confirmed both by our study and by numerous others, the discussion on the topic of identity represents an important element in understanding modern migrations. The third and fourth chapters lay out the research methodology, followed by the results and their interpretation. Chapter 5 provides conclusions and recommendations for further research and the establishment of a support network for the reception and integration of asylum seekers. The final chapter includes references to the literature used. (shrink)

Universities have always been part of political and public discourse in one way or another. The EU has assigned universities a new model role as ultimate integrators for the designated European Education Area and European Research Area. In this sense, Homo Academicus must reflect on new arrangements, as the previously occupied position of an omniscient detached observer is no longer valid. It is doomed to remain an unaccomplished and misleading idealization. The European Council has introduced the idea of the European (...) University as a bottom-up network of universities across the EU. It presents education as everyone’s favorite muse, but it is not a silver bullet. The education system is entangled in national and supranational interests, constantly shifting between the public and private sectors. The academic community is experiencing one of the biggest existential conflicts in choosing between two options: 1) scholastic supra-civic detachment, ivory tower escapism, and elitist stance, or 2) intellectual social engagement and civic education. Unless this conflict is resolved, future universities will not be able to foster transversal skills and prepare accountable citizens. (shrink)

In support to the development and implementation of the Regional Plan of Action to implement the Kuala Lumpur Declaration on Ageing: Empowering Older Persons in ASEAN (2015), the ASEAN Secretariat under the guidance of the Senior Officials Meeting on Social Welfare and Development (SOMSWD) commissioned a study to identify the trends and opportunities on poverty and active ageing in ASEAN, as endorsed during the 14th Senior Officials Meeting on Social Welfare and Development (SOMSWD) held in September 2018, Singapore. The focus (...) of the study is on specific groups of older persons from two socio-economic perspectives: a) older persons living in poverty and at-risk/vulnerable conditions; and b) older persons in active ageing. The analysis is critical for helping ASEAN Member States to better protect the rights of older person and review their respective policies, plans and programme related to the UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals and the ASEAN commitment towards building an inclusive, sustainable, and resilient regional community that promotes human rights, equitable access to opportunities, and high quality of life for all. (shrink)

All the conserved detailed results of evolution stored in DNA must be read, transcribed, and translated via an RNAmediated process. This is required for the development and growth of each individual cell. Thus, all known living organisms fundamentally depend on these RNA-mediated processes. In most cases, they are interconnected with other RNAs and their associated protein complexes and function in a strictly coordinated hierarchy of temporal and spatial steps (i.e., an RNA network). Clearly, all cellular life as we know (...) it could not function without these key agents of DNA replication, namely rRNA, tRNA, and mRNA. Thus, any definition of life that lacks RNA functions and their networks misses an essential requirement for RNA agents that inherently regulate and coordinate (communicate to) cells, tissues, organs, and organisms. The precellular evolution of RNAs occurred at the core of the emergence of cellular life and the question remained of how both precellular and cellular levels are interconnected historically and functionally. RNA-networks andRNA-communication can interconnect these levels.With the reemergence of virology in evolution, it became clear that communicating viruses and subviral infectious genetic parasites are bridging these two levels by invading, integrating, coadapting, exapting, and recombining constituent parts in host genomes for cellular requirements in gene regulation and coordination aims. Therefore, a 21st century understanding of life is of an inherently social process based on communicating RNA networks, in which viruses and cells continuously interact. (shrink)

Edmund Burke grounds politics and the state over the pre-political network of moral relations, starting from the family, evolving, through the village, the parish and the town, up to the class and corporation, finally arriving to the nation. These subordinate affections can be geometrically imagined as expanding circles of belonging and, though strictly linked to the state, they are not reducible to it, nor can the state replace them. In Burke’s vision, the state of civil society is humankind’s state (...) of nature, for the reason that man is always, and since ever, a member of a community: we are from somewhere, Burke seems to suggest. Thus, politics is grounded in morality, and morality, in turn, is based on God’s will, which within history takes the form of natural law. The French Revolution, on the contrary, has broken the spontaneity of interactions between individuals and intermediate groups, eventually establishing the Terror. (shrink)

This richly illustrated book offers new perspectives and research on how digital culture is transforming museums in the 21st century, as they strive to keep pace with emerging technologies driving cultural and social change, played out not only in today’s pervasive networked environment of the Internet and Web, but in everyday life, from home to work and on city streets. In a world where digital culture has redefined human information behavior as life in code and digits, increasingly it dominates human (...) activity and communication. These developments have radically changed the expectations of the museum visitor, real and virtual, the work of museum professionals and, most prominently, the nature of museum exhibitions, while digital art and life in a digitally saturated world is changing our ways of seeing, doing, our senses and aesthetics. -/- Overall, this book creates a new picture of the 21st-century museum field. As museums become shared spaces with their communities, local, national and global and move from collection-centered to user-/visitor-centered institutions, they are assuming new roles and responsibilities tied to new goals for engaging their audience, conveying meaning through collections, creating learning experiences and importantly, connecting to daily digital life and culture integral to the museum ecosystem. Our studies of recent exhibitions at museums leading change are used to exemplify new directions, while they point to a reimagined vision for museums of the future at the heart of which is the integration of digital culture and visitor experience and participation in real and virtual space. (shrink)

From different angles of science, there has been a growing interest in the abilities of groups to track the truth. The Condorcet Jury Theorem (1785) states that without communication, infinitely big groups will reach a correct majority opinion with certainty. Coughlan (2000), meanwhile formulated a model in which all agents communicate with each other, showing that majorities are only just as good as fully-communicating individuals. In reality, communication is usually between these two extremes: some agents communicate with some of the (...) others, but not with all others. We refer to this as partial communication. This thesis provides a Bayesian framework to study the influence of partial communication on individual as well as group accuracy, thereby generalising Condorcet’s as well as Coughlan’s setting. We obtain results for individual and group accuracy in three type of networks. Firstly, we study the extreme case where there is either no communication or everyone communicates with everyone. Secondly, we determine accuracy for regular networks, in which all agents communicate with equally many other agents. Thirdly, we derive a formula to express the expected accuracy in random networks, in which agents can communicate with various numbers of other agents. The formula enables us to determine the effect of various parameters on the individual and group accuracy in a random network with partial communication. Finally, we show that in random networks, despite correlation between agents, we can still obtain accurate majorities under some constraints. (shrink)

As the word demos denotes, the democracy is generally considered as the rule or governance based on the general base of people in which monarchy or oligarchy form is excluded. We have a classical view about the four forms of government, which was proposed by Platonic concepts. Most idealistic form of government, in his prongs, could be found in Crete and Sparta, which was nevertheless not a democratic form. His accolade of these two nations, which, of course, would be a (...) kind of God’s product so to be most benevolent, humanly appealing, efficient and philanthropic. This means the democratic form of government is not best, but most favored alternative to police the society. The political terms, henceforth, would supervene the concept of democracy, and, for many reasons and on historical wake, democracy is generally accepted as practically most desired form of rule or governance. While some modern scholar revealed, a mini-republic can be a niche to contest the merits of various forms of governance. We can gauge a scope of elements we value through the governance process, human intrinsic, efficiency, equality, welfare and even individual happiness. As the time is a small city community, called a polis, in Plato and Socrates, a mini republic can be well envisaged in understanding the Platonic Republic. In that case, most benevolent ruler may be superior to any other form of governance, which can be a philosopher’s Republic. The ideal ruler would behave and govern with mighty intelligence and concomitant power to rule. It is idealistic to produce maximum happiness of polis constituents. The worst contras, however, a tyranny, comes that the constituents legitimately expel their ruler by a collective vote. This extreme contrast and the way of process also could be ascertained in the ancient form of oriental monarchy. The dynasty could be legitimately revoked to restore new heritage of emperor or Kings where a kind of rebellion, as elucidated by Locke, is well justified in the name of heaven’s command. Given the size of polis or governed territory, there are separate ways to redress the evils of tyranny while the Oriental culture has not recognized the kind of formal vote methods. Any means to expel the tyranny could be embraced to rebel. For our purpose of grasp through this working paper, I would theorize on the traditional elements of public policy and democratic form of government. (shrink)

The study dealt with the present socio-economic status, perceptions and opportunities of maximizing the benefits of ecotourism to the local community. Responses from the local community, officials of the local government unit, and visitors using quantitative and qualitative method, particularly the inductive approach through survey, observation and interview was used. Local community involvement in tourism activity is limited to tour guiding, particularly the children, while the rest of the population are into farming, fishing and harvesting forest products. (...) The park was categorized as “Protected Landscape” under Republic Act 7586, now gaining its popularity and one of the fastest growing ecotourism sites in the Philippines is under the supervision of a private company. Visitor satisfaction and potential risk on environmental degradation were observed due to lack of regulation on the observance of carrying capacity. Tourism Action Plan for the destination was prepared but allocation for project for the local community that would contribute to their present socio-economic status was not evident. The geographical unit of the destination, its breath-taking view, the presence of various distinct flora and fauna made it to be labelled as the “Hidden Paradise and Mystical Eco-tourism in Nueva Ecija”. Sustainability in ecotourism, involves the participation of the communities that protect and manage the natural resources, cultural and indigenous knowledge and practices, environmental education and ethics. Community involvement equipped with proper education and conservation awareness, training, and employment opportunities may sustain the destination and enhance visitor satisfaction. (shrink)

Abstract: For the last two decades, land and land-related problems are more complicated ever before. Especially the proliferation of large-scale rural land investments and the vulnerability of the local communities in land abundant developing countries instigated researchers, human right activists, and international and regional organizations to proposed governance guidelines, principles, and codes of conduct for large-scale land investments. To identify policy flaws on the protection of local community rights under the governance process of large-scale rural land investment in Amhara (...) National Regional State Ethiopia the commonalities of those international and regional accepted governance guiding lines and principles are taken as a point of reference to examine the land governance policies of the region through the approach of document analysis. The result shows all legislation with regard to the governance of large-scale rural land investment is flawed throughout the land policy reform processes and identified five ways in which the de jure land-related rights of the local communities are compromised and exacerbated the vulnerability of their livelihoods. (shrink)

In this chapter I systematically distinguish a variety of ways to relationalize economics, and focus on a certain approach to relationalizing normative economics in the light of communal values salient in the African philosophical tradition. I start by distinguishing four major ways to relationalize empirical economics, viz., in terms of its ontologies, methods, explanations, and predictions, and also three major ways to relationalize normative economics, in regards to means taken towards ends, decision-procedures used to specify ends, and ends themselves. Then, (...) in the rest of the chapter I address what would be involved in relationalizing the ends of economic choices, given certain ideals of communal relationship characteristically prized by sub-Saharan philosophers, particularly southern African adherents to ubuntu. I advance communal answers to the two large questions of what an economy should distribute and how to engage with stakeholders, and suggest that the implications will be found plausible by many open-minded enquirers around the world. Although this chapter is a work of ethical philosophy, it is meant to be of broad interest to scholars in economics. (shrink)

Social integration was theorized to be a ‘secularizing’ process for immigrants in Western Europe. Assuming that immigrants adapt to new social environments by complying with the mainstream culture of their receiving countries, immigrant religiosity is expected to decline as they assimilate in societies where secular norms prevail. Alternatively, religion could be a coping mechanism for immigrants who struggle to assimilate in their receiving countries. ‘Buffer’ theories of religion suggest that religious identity could be interchangeable with ethnicity and nationality to mitigate (...) the identity conflicts immigrants experience. This paper addresses the following research question: What role does religion play in the identity conflict experienced by immigrants who are both an ethnic minority and a national of a Western European country? Particularly, I explore the pertinence of religious identity for first-generation Sub-Saharan African Christian immigrants (SSACI) in Germany and France, where the models of immigrant assimilation diverge. Statistical tests were conducted on data derived from two surveys to compare religious, national, and ethnic self-identities at the group and individual levels. The group comparisons suggest that Christianity was indeed more salient for SSACI than native-born Christians. SSACIs without citizenship were also more likely to experience identity conflict, to which they may cope by associating less with their ethnicity or more with their religious identity. Perceived discrimination was associated with identity conflict only in Germany where immigrant assimilation is traditionally based on a common ancestry, in contrast to the values-based model in France. These are consistent with the predictions derived from ‘buffer’ theories of immigrant religiosity but longitudinal studies are needed for a more robust understanding of these trends. (shrink)

Public health care interventions—regarding vaccination, obesity, and HIV, for example—standardly take the form of information dissemination across a community. But information networks can vary importantly between different ethnic communities, as can levels of trust in information from different sources. We use data from the Greater Pittsburgh Random Household Health Survey to construct models of information networks for White and Black communities--models which reflect the degree of information contact between individuals, with degrees of trust in information from various sources correlated (...) with positions in that social network. With simple assumptions regarding belief change and social reinforcement, we use those modeled networks to build dynamic agent-based models of how information can be expected to flow and how beliefs can be expected to change across each community. With contrasting information from governmental and religious sources, the results show importantly different dynamic patterns of belief polarization within the two communities. (shrink)

A scientific community can be modeled as a collection of epistemic agents attempting to answer questions, in part by communicating about their hypotheses and results. We can treat the pathways of scientific communication as a network. When we do, it becomes clear that the interaction between the structure of the network and the nature of the question under investigation affects epistemic desiderata, including accuracy and speed to community consensus. Here we build on previous work, both our (...) own and others’, in order to get a firmer grasp on precisely which features of scientific communities interact with which features of scientific questions in order to influence epistemic outcomes. (shrink)

The Indian sarus crane Grus antigone antigone is the world's graceful and tallest flying bird. It is a nonmigratory and only resident breeding crane of Indian sub continent. It has been declared as 'State Bird' by Government of Uttar Pradesh. Pairing of the bird for life long and legendry marital devotion of the species has earned its global popularity. Ecological and environmental condition of this lake is quite supportive for the survival of this vulnerable species. The present study deals with (...) the distribution and conservation of this vulnerable species in and around the Alwara lake of district Kaushambi, Uttar Pradesh. A total of 335 cranes were actually observed in 2012, 425 in 2013, 510 in 2014 and 537 in 2015, although more cranes were claimed to exist in this area by the local people. This communication is clearly depicting continuous increasing trend in population of Indian sarus crane during their exploration from 2012-2015 in the area studied, although its population is decreasing at global level. (shrink)

In the context of the global intellectualization, human capital is the determining factor in the innovation development and the international competitiveness of countries. In the XXI century. the leading component of human capital are qualitatively new information, communication and network technologies. Particular importance are education and training, professionalism, high level of human resources management, building up, reproduction and human capital development. These factors are the prerequisite for the growth of the competitive advantages of the country in the conditions of (...) globalization. (shrink)

It is widely believed that Nigeria consists of a minimum of 250 ethnic groups with Hausa, Yoruba and Igbo as the three dominant ones. Each group has its own language and custom and accepts one or more of the main religions of Christianity, Islam and African traditional religion. This multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-lingual and multi-religious nature of the country makes the pursuit of national unity, unity in diversity, a difficult task. And this is the background for the disruption and violence (...) that have caused much of the displacement and internal migration in the country today. Whenever the parties to a communication act bring with them different experiential backgrounds that reflect a longstanding deposit of group experience, knowledge, and values, cross-cultural or intercultural communication is at play. This paper, therefore, explores the possibility of promoting national cohesion by means of cross-cultural communication in both its symbolic and linguistic forms. Concluding that if professionally applied, cross-cultural communication can enhance national integration, the paper recommends that Nigerians should understand cultural diversity, develop awareness of different cultures, and for this reason, introduce folkloristic (the study of folklore) and cultural history in primary and secondary school curricula. (shrink)

This article brings together two research fields in applied ethics - namely, information ethics and business ethics- which deal with the ethical impact of information and communication technologies but that, so far, have remained largely independent. Its goal is to articulate and defend an informational approach to the conceptual foundation of business ethics, by using ideas and methods developed in information ethics, in view of the convergence of the two fields in an increasingly networked society.

The purpose of this chapter is to outline some of the thinking behind new e-learning technology, including e-portfolios and personal learning environments. Part of this thinking is centered around the theory of connectivism, which asserts that knowledge - and therefore the learning of knowledge - is distributive, that is, not located in any given place (and therefore not 'transferred' or 'transacted' per se) but rather consists of the network of connections formed from experience and interactions with a knowing (...) class='Hi'>community. And another part of this thinking is centered around the new, and the newly empowered, learner, the member of the net generation, who is thinking and interacting in new ways. These trends combine to form what is sometimes called 'e-learning 2.0' - an approach to learning that is based on conversation and interaction, on sharing, creation and participation, on learning not as a separate activity, but rather, as embedded in meaningful activities such as games or workflows. (shrink)

A number of philosophers argue that the moral value of national identity is sufficient to justify at least a prima facie right of a national community to create its own independent, sovereign state. In the literature, this argument is commonly referred to as the identity argument. In this paper, I consider whether the identity argument successfully proves that a national group is entitled to a state of its own. To do so, I first explain three important (...) steps in the argument and then consider whether they lead to the desired conclusion. My examination reveals that the identity argument relies on the Optimal Protection Principle; however, this principle does not apply to the case of a national community. As a result, the identity argument fails to justify even a prima facie right of a national community to establish its own state. (shrink)

The epistemic position of an agent often depends on their position in a larger network of other agents who provide them with information. In general, agents are better off if they have diverse and independent sources. Sullivan et al. [19] developed a method for quantitatively characterizing the epistemic position of individuals in a network that takes into account both diversity and independence; and presented a proof-of-concept, closed-source implementation on a small graph derived from Twitter data [19]. This paper (...) reports on an open-source reimplementation of their algorithm in Python, optimized to be usable on much larger networks. In addition to the algorithm and package, we also show the ability to scale up our package to large synthetic social network graph profiling, and finally demonstrate its utility in analyzing real-world empirical evidence of ‘echo chambers’ on online social media, as well as evidence of interdisciplinary diversity in an academic communications network. (shrink)

We consider how an epistemic network might self-assemble from the ritualization of the individual decisions of simple heterogeneous agents. In such evolved social networks, inquirers may be significantly more successful than they could be investigating nature on their own. The evolved network may also dramatically lower the epistemic risk faced by even the most talented inquirers. We consider networks that self-assemble in the context of both perfect and imperfect communication and compare the behaviour of inquirers in each. This (...) provides a step in bringing together two new and developing research programs, the theory of self-assembling games and the theory of network epistemology. (shrink)

Social network structure has been argued to shape the structure of languages, as well as affect the spread of innovations and the formation of conventions in the community. Specifically, theoretical and computational models of language change predict that sparsely connected communities develop more systematic languages, while tightly knit communities can maintain high levels of linguistic complexity and variability. However, the role of social network structure in the cultural evolution of languages has never been tested experimentally. Here, we (...) present results from a behavioral group communication study, in which we examined the formation of new languages created in the lab by micro‐societies that varied in their network structure. We contrasted three types of social networks: fully connected, small‐world, and scale‐free. We examined the artificial languages created by these different networks with respect to their linguistic structure, communicative success, stability, and convergence. Results did not reveal any effect of network structure for any measure, with all languages becoming similarly more systematic, more accurate, more stable, and more shared over time. At the same time, small‐world networks showed the greatest variation in their convergence, stabilization, and emerging structure patterns, indicating that network structure can influence the community's susceptibility to random linguistic changes (i.e., drift). (shrink)

American business's fascination with both laborsaving devices and low wage environments is causing not only structural unemployment and dissipation of the nation's industrial base but also the deterioration of abandoned host communities. According to individualist understandings of the right of private property, this deterioration is beyond sanction except insofar as it affects the property rights of others. But corporate stockholders and managers should not be considered the only owners of property the value of which is due in part to the (...) investments of employees and of the host community. The contributions of the latter should therefore be adequately recognized in law. Short-term job protection and long-term planning for leisure are helpful. But still more important is a recognition in public policy of the interests of the community in property owned by corporations. There is ample precedent in our legal traditions for public preemption of private property; but in contrast to much taking in the past, this must be exercized in a manner that is truly for the public benefit. (shrink)

The state of national economies development varies and is characterized by many indicators. Economically developed countries are known as doubtless leaders that are in progress and form political stability, social and economics standards, scientific and technical progress and determine future priorities. It is worth mentioning that the progressive development of national economies in conditions of globalization can take place only in case of the increase of their intellectualization level, through saturation of people`s life, economic relations and production by (...) brain activity, knowledge, creativity, innovation, culture, ethical considering of the historical heritage. The main aim of the research is national economies intellectualization evaluating in globalization conditions. In order to gain this aim, the following tasks were defined: to identify existing indices of the national economies intellectualization level evaluation, develop the authors’ methodological approach to the national economies intellectualization level, determine the areas of measurement results application. While conducting the research, systematic approach, the methods of analysis, synthesis, grouping, abstracting, generalization, imaginary experiment and grounding were used. In the modern world, there are a large number of indicators which characterize differences in intellectual state of the national economy. When comparing the state of national economies intellectualization, the problems arise with different number of countries, duplication of indicators, disproportionate number of the components of indicators, various years of publication, etc. Therefore, to ensure comparability, we choose four general indicators – the index of human development, the global innovation index, the global competitiveness index and the knowledge economy index. Using these indices, we do the research and determine the state of national economies intellectualization in the world economy. According to the calculated results, as of 2013, we have divided 190 national economies by level of intellectualization into five groups: countries with the highest (30 countries), high (30 (countries), low (30 countries), the lowest (35 countries) and the countries with uncertain state of intellectualization (65 countries). The leaders in the state of intellectualization are Switzerland, Sweden, The Netherlands, Finland and the USA. The countries with the highest level of intellectualization serve as an example to all other countries of the world. These countries are characterized by developed market economy; a dominant position in the international economy, which allows actively engaging own and imported resources in the economic turnover; the shift of the center of gravity of economic activity into the services sector and the dominance of service economy; the greatest exhaustion of sources and factors of industrial development; advanced post-industrial development. The economic policy of the first group of countries has a decisive influence on the state and dynamics of the global economy, defining the main directions of its scientific and technological development and structural adjustment. The average index of the national economy intellectualization (AINEI), calculated by the authors, shows the place of each country in the world community as to their intellectual capital. Considering the continued deployment of R&D progress, the growing role of high-tech production and the complexity of social and economic relations, AINEI can serve as a reliable indicator of the macroeconomic environment intellectualization state. Therefore, the following organizations, bodies and individuals can use the comparative results of this study: the international organizations while developing international economic development programs; the state authorities of the countries in foreign and domestic policy forming; companies that create innovative and investment policy; migrants, tourists and persons who perform professional and transit activity for the formation of human potential and capital; scientists and teachers who develop mechanisms of intellectualization. (shrink)

This paper examines the problem of poor orientation of most Nigerian citizens, especially the rural dwellers, occasioned by the dearth and failure of modern media in rural Nigeria; a phenomenon that has led to a major setback in participatory governance and national development in a country. The objective of the paper is to investigate the causes of modern media failure in national orientation and development in Nigeria and to examine the need to adopt traditional African media as a (...) viable alternative in Nigeria’s national orientation and development programme especially at the grassroots. This paper assumes that African traditional communication media as effective tools have been ignored in the national orientation programmes despite their relevance to national development. The paper adopts an analytical research method to examine secondary sources of data on the constraints of modern media in rural Nigeria and the viability of African traditional media in Nigeria’s national orientation and development’s efforts. Findings reveal that most Nigerian citizens, especially rural dwellers, do not understand national orientation messages because they are broadcast in English rather than their respective languages and the broadcasts are made on modern media channels that exist in urban areas. Findings also reveal that that government’s lack of political will, high cost of setting up community media, absence of professional journalists and selfish interests of Nigerians are factors responsible for the non-existence of modern media channels in rural Nigeria. Findings also reveal that African traditional media is very compatible to the communication needs of rural Nigerians. The paper concludes that the National Orientation Agency (NOA) in Nigeria has had reduced effectiveness and therefore, recommends the use of African traditional communication media in addition to the use of modern media such as television, radio and print materials to accord Nigerians the necessary orientation that will commit the citizens towards the task of national development. (shrink)

Information, Communication, Technology and Services (ICTS) is increasingly being used in various fields that include agriculture, education, medicine, tourism and business. However, due to challenges caused by the digital divide and other factors, the use of ICTS and its contribution to socio-economic development is generally more intense in developed countries than in developing countries, and also more in urban areas than in rural areas. This article gives an overview of ICTS, the extent of its adoption in different fields, factors that (...) hinder ICTS driven socio-economic development in developing countries and rural areas, and various possible ways of maximizing potential benefits that marginalised communities can derive from the limited ICTS that is accessible to them. (shrink)

The integration of standardized biomedical terminologies into a single, unified knowledge representation system has formed a key area of applied informatics research in recent years. The Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) is the most advanced and most prominent effort in this direction, bringing together within its Metathesaurus a large number of distinct source-terminologies. The UMLS Semantic Network, which is designed to support the integration of these source-terminologies, has proved to be a highly successful combination of formal coherence and broad (...) scope. We argue here, however, that its organization manifests certain structural problems, and we describe revisions which we believe are needed if the network is to be maximally successful in realizing its goals of supporting terminology integration. (shrink)