bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Anatomy of the Lockerbie bombing: Libya’s role and reactions to al-Megrahi’s release.
Authors: Ani Kelechi Johnmary , Uzodike Ufo Okeke
Published: February 2024

Despite its long historical antecedents, terrorism is amongst the growing realities of the national history of contemporary sovereign states. With this emergence, destabilizing influence, and internationalization, terrorism has made the associated security challenge a major diplomatic headache for all key international actors and diplomats. This paper, which adopts a theoretical approach, assesses claims that Ghadafi’s Libya championed state-sponsored terrorism. It reviews the Lockerbie bombing and the conviction of al-Megrahi by the court in Netherland as well as his release from Scottish prison on compassionate grounds. It examines Libya’s use of available diplomatic tools and channels not only to prevent Abdelbaset Ali Mohammed al-Megrahi from facing justice but also to attain Ghadafi’s political and economic interests. This article documents the political communication that followed his release and calls for increased diplomatic investigations of the Lockerbie terrorist attack. Finally, the paper beckons on Libya’s new leaders and the leaderships of USA and Scotland to engage in a progressive multilateral strategic cooperation to unravel further facts on the Lockerbie bombing while promoting the current international “war” against terrorism.
Global polity e policies: verso forme nuove di conoscenza del potere.
Authors: Ornaghi Lorenzo
Published: February 2024

Global polity and policies are a forceful new factor in the changing face of power, both how it is exercised and legitimatized. The perceptions of politics in the traditional and more widespread social representations can also change by power being modified. For these reasons the article focuses chiefly on the relationship between knowledge of power and global politics. The knowledge of how power comes about and is dealt out in the global system is often still conditioned by models, theories and paradigms linked to the ways in which the State organizes power today. After the breakdown of the jus publicum europaeum and sovereignty, knowledge of power and politics today is paramount to explain the new type of political, burocratic power exercised by international institutions and regimes, equal or unequal alliances between political classes, international and domestic oligarchies, the way in which information technology constantly changes the traditional representations of politics and its very pervasiveness. The article’s concluding thesis is that it is above all the new or not so new approaches characterizing global politics and policies which will prove indispensible for us to adequately get to grips with and suitably systemize the ways in which power currently comes about and is dealt out.
Transparency and participation in the global polity: lessons learned from food and water governance.
Authors: Bevilacqua Dario , Spagnuolo Francesca
Published: February 2024

Within the global polity several global regulatory regimes overlap and intersect without establishing one single and unitary legal order. Despite such fragmentation, each global regulatory regime constrains the behaviour of States and individuals through “induced compliance” and significantly impacts domestic regulation, influencing both the content and the way decisions are made. This also applies to the global regimes of food and water, where the interplay between different rules and actors (public/private, domestic/global) raises a number of questions on the complex relationship between the power makers that establish the rules and those who are affected by them. These regimes are particularly emblematic of the debate about the democratic quality of global polity. They also show the lack of balance among national governments, global institutions, and civil society organizations. As a matter of fact, at the global level, there is no directive representative democracy, but some forms of deliberative or procedural democracy, which emerge through the application of administrative procedures and formal guarantees in the decision-making processes. Among such tools, this article focuses on transparency and participation, which are two fundamental legal instruments featuring procedural legitimacy. The paper is divided in four sections. The last section contains three conclusive remarks: 1) an effective increment of transparency and participation in global decision-making would enhance pluralism, accountability and power-checking in the global polity; 2) even the increment of transparency and participation can present drawbacks, which need to be tackled and nullified by the application of specific procedural devices; 3) the main improvement would rely on procedural democracy as transparency and participation need to be combined with other administrative principles and guarantees, such as due process, duty to give reason, judicial review, and so on.
Expectation vs Reality: Cosmopolitan and Insular Social Capital among Malaysian Chinese Youth
Authors: Edo July , Suet Kay Rachel Chan , MD. Hussain Rosila Bee
Published: February 2024

This article discusses the form of social capital present among Malaysian Chinese youth, comparing across those who are Chinese-medium educated and English-medium educated. The reason for comparison is because of the dichotomy of Confucian values in Chinese-medium education and Western liberal democratic values in English-medium education, which may influence their choice of social network. Using a self-designed survey questionnaire, I assessed whether Putnam’s two forms of social capital, the bridging and the bonding social capital, are found in these two sub-ethnic groups. In terms of face-to-face interaction, it is found that ethnic identification remains a strong influence on respondents’ choice of social network. However, respondents also demonstrate an aspiration to network on a more global scale if facilitated by information communication technology. Given Malaysia’s present globalised environment, with strong migratory flows inside and outside, the reality of respondents’ social capital does not match the expectations respondents have of themselves. While they express a desire to network in a global nexus, in order to be more connected to the rest of the world, they are still restrained by attributes like ethnic identification and language preference.
The Nature Terrorism Reports on Social Networks
Authors: Okolie-Osemene James , Okoh Rosemary Ifeanyi
Published: February 2024

As new tools of communication, an in-depth study of social networking in the era of global terrorism is attempted in this article. This emerging tradition of information sharing is driven by social media technology which has greatly revolutionalised communication in all sectors. The article explored the information sharing relevance of new technologies in the age of terrorism and counterterrorism. It focused on how social networks are increasingly utilised by different groups. In terms of methodology, the study extracted and utilised positive, negative and neutral posts, updates, tweets and reports on social networks through different individual and organisational media accounts and blogs, and analysed the data qualitatively. Findings show that despite being used by extremist groups in promoting their political agenda, social networks are also useful in promoting positive perceptions that society has about Muslims in the era of terrorism, emphasising that Muslims are not terrorists. Through the instrumentality of social media, users are able to map the trends of terrorism and responses from stakeholders in government and security sector in curbing the menace. Given their capacity to reach a wider audience, breaking cultural and religious barriers, social networks serve as early warning signs and make it possible for people to share new ideas on possible ways of curbing the proliferation of terrorist organisations.
The Road to Liberating Citizens While Governing the Urban Areas. The Tale of Two Cities Cairo and Buenos Aires
Authors: Sirry Azza , Bustamante Sandra
Published: February 2024

The relation between the political agenda, the social and economic policies, and urban planning and fabric of cities as a product cannot be missed. And as cities are centres of national economic growth and given that the future of the world will be urban it is thus ironic that the majority of the population of almost all cities in almost all developing countries lives in houses that are below standards, in areas that lack services and basic infrastructure. Furthermore, the people who live in these areas suffer from high present of socio-economic problems such as unemployment and literacy. The poorest of the population have to pay more for their houses, service and infrastructure provision. And they lack access to formal credit and thus to opportunities (Sirry 2004). The cities have become places of frustration instead of places of hope and opportunities. It is not thus surprising that the world is witnessing a wave of upheavals all over its’ cities. In the two case studies the article will try to discuss the background of the country and the political, social, and economic conditions and the physical outcome that is manifested in the image of its cities specially the capital city and how can the change towards democracy help the country, its cities and the urban population. The period covered is called by many the contemporary period, it starts in 50’s in Egypt and 70’s in Argentine.
Social Media and Political Change in the 21st Century the African Experience
Authors: Chidi A. M. , Chimee I. N.
Published: February 2024

Technology no doubt is the engine that drives the modern world, both for destruction and good; and one of the wonders of modern technology is the computer and the allied internet. Modern communication network now relies on the internet using the computer and mobile telephones. In fact, there is no place to hide with the internet and the handy smart phones with which calls are made and pictures and videos recorded and transmitted across boundaries and continents.

The advancements in the computer and internet systems in the last decade of the 20th century produced radical changes in both internet connectivity and features available to users through which people are linked across the globe. The three most basic of these internet features that have radically shaped modern communication are, Facebook, Twitters, and the U-Tube, among others. The three are the most popular and core elements of the social media compartment of our modern internet system. Computer technology has broken the boundaries of closed societies and systems, making actions and activities in such systems open and available to the wider world. Through the internet and its core elements, repressive regimes have been exposed and activities going on in liberal societies are shared. Interestingly, Africa became the starting point for the agitation for political change, which was bolstered by the social media.

The so-called “Arab Spring”, which first started in Africa through expositions of social media, saw the dismantling of three despotic and ruthless regimes in Arab North Africa, thus giving vent to agitations for an end to dictatorship and illiberality in other Arab states. The paper will examine the role of the social media in political transformation and change of dictatorial regimes in Africa and the consequences such would have on the overall political template of Africa.
Revisiting Liberal Democratic Universalism A Critical Rhetoric of the Liberal Democratic World Order
Authors: Smith Rose Joy E.
Published: February 2024

Liberal democracy has become the predominant political regime in the 21st century even in countries that have little or no history of ‘democratic structures and practices’. However, it seems as though setting up a functional, stable, and viable democratic state is harder than overthrowing autocratic rulers. This rhetorical criticism explores gridlocks that hamper the development of universal liberal democratic values by emphasizing the Western hegemonic status of defining what liberal democracy is. It is pertinent to look into this dominant role considering that it is through these values that actions, policies, and other values are to be construed and judged. This paper aims to (1) highlight the role of moral cosmopolitanism as the initial step of Western hegemony, (2) identify the paradox of defining liberal democracy as universal but treating it as a particular, and (3) discuss the ironies of democratic imperialism and its hindrance to self-determination. This paper hopes to shed some light in the importance of various interpretations, definitions, and adaptations of liberal democratic values depending on the context of the society incorporating, its culture, its values, and its identity, in order to find a more comprehensive definition of democracy.
The Democratic Paradigm a Vanishing Act
Authors: Shah Qasir
Published: February 2024

The premise of this issue of the journal is that in western secular democracies the principles underlying the democratic paradigm at the national level are not in any serious doubt. It is this presumption that I wish to address. This paper will assert that the citizen is no longer at the heart of the democratic process. Using the example of the UK, I will argue that this is a consequence of the representative nature of liberal democracy which conceptualises citizenship as a legal status, giving citizens protection of the law rather than participating in its formulation or execution as in the civic republican model. Liberal democracy not only eschews greater political participation, it does not prepare citizens for it. There currently exists a democratic deficit at local and national level which is leading to a decline in active citizenship. Therefore any attempt to democratise globalisation without address- ing the weakening of national democracies will simply lead to the current political elites populating new ‘democratic’ structures. With this in mind I will counter arguments utilised to discredit the civic republican model of democracy. I will argue that in England the present educational system, predicated upon a narrow skills-based agenda premised upon an economic rationale, is undermining democracy by not preparing the citizenry for active political participation or to critique governance. In addition, policy changes in England are leading to the commodification of education which will undermine its social purpose and inter alia democracy.
Globalization and Democratic Experiments A Sociological Profiling of Nigeria’s Democratic Colonialism (1999-2015)
Authors: Wika P. N. , Maigari A. M.
Published: February 2024

Globalization has become a contagious phenomenon that has not spared any society and social institutions. Events happening at the global arena has far-reaching impact and implications at the remotest village in virtually any part of the earth. The tidal wave of democracy as the most acceptable system of government and capitalism as the best economic system synchronized with the shattering hurricane of globalization around the world has been producing innumerable political changes. Nigeria like most countries in the third word that were formerly under military rule embraced the civilian rule in 1999 after 16 years of its suspension from 1983-1999. From this point of view this paper will seek to know the meaning of globalization, democracy and the inverse relationship of the two concepts on most of the third world countries in general and Nigeria in particular. A conceptual clarification of globalization and democracy will follow next. Methodologically, the paper adopted a qualitative methods of content analysis to analysed the literature and empirical studies on topic reviewed and provided some insightful sociological analyses and conclusions.
Legal Pluralism in Contemporary States: Between Traditional and Formal Justice Mechanisms in Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire
Authors: Opasina Oladapo Kayode
Published: February 2024

It is generally assumed that African states have yet to explore the full potential of their traditional institutions and the specific role that society wants them to play in modern states. While focusing on Nigeria and Côte d’Ivoire, this empirical research seeks to explore legal pluralism in modern African democracy. The study specifically answers the research question: is the traditional justice system applicable to Nigerians and Ivorians in contemporary dispensation? The study finds out that a significant population at the grassroots rely on the traditional justice system, when compared with their counterparts in the cities. The rural population argues that the formal justice system is quite expensive and that the legal procedures are difficult to understand, coupled with the fact that court houses are mostly located in the cities. On the other hand, the gender-biased and male-dominated outlook of the traditional justice mechanism and its proneness to external influences, as well as the impact of modern religions, have continued to propel a considerable population (especially in urban areas) to patronize the formal justice system. Meanwhile, the adoption of western institutions of government by African states has forced traditional institutions to occupy the back seat. Hence, there is a mixed social environment wherein both formal and traditional justice systems are weak, and the states being weak themselves are significantly responsible for the weakness of traditional institutions. Consequently, flaws in both justice systems have compelled people to take the law into their own hands and to resort to jungle justice.
The Quandary of the Identity Debate
Authors: Moazami Behrooz
Published: February 2024

Concepts of identity, identity formation, identity politics, and collective identity, despite being vague, are among the most used notions in social theory, historical analysis, and everyday life and politics. In the last four or five decades “identity” has become a catchword that could explain almost any political or cultural development. In this paper, I discuss existential and social dimensions of identity and identity formation, decode the relational and historical conditions of their construction and argue that identities at any given point of time represent a general (albeit multiple) and fragmented expression of human’s capacity. I further contend that identity is a social relation: an embodiment of power structures and power discourses. I end up with some reflections on how we can imagine communities compatible with human emancipation by replacing the particularity of identity with the universalism of humanity and focusing on humanity and discourses of human emancipation. This paper reconstructs the “identity debate” as a part of a conceptual deliberation of the narrative of historical change.
The European Identity
Authors: Martinelli Alberto
Published: February 2024

European identity is not only a scientifically interesting question, but also a politically important issue: in fact, sixty years after the signing of the Treaty of Rome, the European Union finds itself for the first time facing risks that threaten its own existence. The European Union is a limited and incomplete project because Europe’s economic integration has not been accompanied by a genuine supranational political union and greater cultural integration. The deficit of democratic representation and cultural integration is due to the fact that the community process is based only on economic rationality and not on a feeling of common belonging. In the current situation in which the Union faces difficult challenges which threaten to undermine the future, it necessary to affirm the policy of interests with a policy of identity. In this essay, we will first concentrate on the concept of identity – that is on the nucleus of values and common institutions –; then we will discuss how the European identity has changed over time (also in relation to national identities) and what are the mechanisms that may favour its taking root in the current situation. The European project of political unification needs to be re-emphasized, finding the way to a European collective identity, not contrasted with but alongside the different national identities, referring to loyalty and shared commitment to a whole collection of cultural values: fundamental human rights, civil liberties, democratic political institutions, rule of law, freedom of movement of people, goods and capital, social justice and non-violent resolution of conflicts.
Knowledge, Access and Practice Understanding the Affordable Care Act from the Voices of Somali Immigrant Women in the United States
Authors: McClinton Griffith Fareeda
Published: February 2024

Previous literature acknowledges a lack of insurance as a deterrent in seeking healthcare, thus impacting the overall health status of Somali immigrant women (Francis, Griffith, and Leser 2014). This paper builds on the previous literature and addresses the following:a) understand the link between the social determinants of health framework and the Affordable Care Act; b) explore Somali women’s attitudes about the feasibility of access and knowledge of the Affordable Care Act, specifically the Medicaid expansion and health insurance marketplace; c) address Somali women’s encounters with doctors and practitioners post-enactment of the Affordable Care Act. Using interview data from twenty Somali women, common themes elicited were the following: miscommunication among Somali immigrant women and their healthcare providers, feelings of social anxiety and other mental health issues, as well as poor patient and doctor relationships. The project is a community-engaged research study that collects data on individuals’ knowledge with the Affordable Care Act by working with members of several Somali led organizations to identify additional key issues within the community. Furthermore, this project challenges the complexity of adapting and integrating into an unfamiliar culture due to language barriers and approach to medical practices, i.e. views about medical practices may be due to cultural values and beliefs about health. In conclusion, this paper provides demographic data about the impact of health disparities on Somali refugees and immigrants by including how they view access to healthcare, identify barriers to information and care provided by health practitioners, and examine their needs in terms of preventive care.
Macerie il fantasma della natura nell’era dell’Antropocene
Authors: Carrieri Alessandro
Published: February 2024

The blind faith in progress, as a submission to a nomosimbued with mythical elements, is declined today through concepts and slogans which participate in the umpteenth ideological mystification of the technocratic society of consumption, aimed at legitimizing and justifying the unconditional domination and exploitation of Nature, even through the (wholly fraudulent) promotion of its protection. The present paper intends to show how even such escamotages, far from breaking the logic of “growth for growth”, move rather in the direction of what Löwith called a total denaturalization of the world and man, that is to say the triumph of the Apparatenweltof Günther Anders. If Man interacts with the natural environment solely through the mediation of a variegated set of techniques, in fact, Nature itself disappears from its subjective horizon and he does nothing but interact with these techniques and with the techno-nature which they originate.
Credere nel mondo l’umano e la fine
Authors: Missiroli Paolo
Published: February 2024

In this essay I try to underline the relation between different ways to think about the end of the world and different philosophical anthropologies, which are always presupposed in those thoughts. The article begins with an analysis of some scenes of the film Melancholia of Lars Von Trier. The explanation of those scenes is supposed to clarify my intentions and some thesis I will demonstrate in the rest of the article. I approach the problem of the relation between the end of the world and the philosophical anthropology using De Castro and Danowski’s book Is there any world to come?,and I develop their investigation by analyzing the work of Gunther Anders. I conclude the article trying to demonstrate that the problem of the Anthropocene is not the end of Life but the end of the world, and in this sense is important to conceive in a different way the man and is relation to the world.
Policy in the Anthropocene
Authors: Wergin Carsten
Published: February 2024

This article discusses recent works on the notions of postpolitics and sustainability in conjunction with illustrative examples from empirical data collected during long-term fieldwork in and around the tourist town of Broome in the West Kimberley region in Australia. I argue that for policy research and practice to remain a significant contributor to contemporary research on sustainability in the Anthropocene, it needs to develop more collaborative approaches that cater to the involvement of numerous and diverse actors in decision-making processes. The article outlines some of the methodological challenges this poses, and how to address them.
Il processo di civilizzazione nella “metamorfosi” della società globale
Authors: Camorrino Antonio
Published: February 2024

In contemporary society human beings are facing “global” challenges that have a direct impact (which is often devastating) on collective and individual lives. Private lives are threatened by the “unintended consequences” – in the words of Ulrich Beck – of the malfunctioning of social dynamics far beyond the understanding of individuals. In the last few decades, several traumatic events (some of unprecedented scope) have made their appearance on the social scene, producing implications that are difficult to overestimate. The “catastrophic” nature of these events raises the ques- tion of the “state of health” of the “civilization process” – to put it in the terms of Norbert Elias. In the first paragraph I analyze, thanks to the theories of Anthony Giddens and Ulrich Beck, the distinguishing features of “late modernity”. In the second, I discuss the relations between the globalization process and the “civilization process” through the theoretical framework of the sociology of culture. The aim of this essay is to give a small sociological contribution to the understanding of a world that appears to be, at first glance, more and more indecipherable.
Anti-Displacement Movement and Development Democracy a Study on Keezhattur Protest in Kerala
Authors: Irshad S. Mohammed
Published: February 2024

India has a history of displacing people for ‘development’; its genesis can be traced to the colonial administration. The 1894 Land Acquisition Act proves how State and bureaucracy define the rights of the people displaced. The ideas of development always triumph over displacement, and both parliamentary discourse and State establishments are positioned in favour of development. Hence, an anti-displacement perspective is considered anti-development as well as anti-State. There are local-centric movements to oppose displacement which are mainly criticized for not taking into account the development interest at large. However, being local-centric is a strength of these movements as it accommodates grass root democracy. This paper discusses the issue of development democracy in the context of the local protest in Keezhattur, Kerala. It is a locally grounded movement against the land acquisition for a highway project. The government is for the project while the opposition parties are against it simply by virtue of being in the opposition. No political party in Kerala genuinely opposes the project. The movements are treated as against the development. The oppositional pol- itics is local while the project is national. The people of Kerala do not have a reason to be with the protestors since the project is for a highway connecting the State with national mainland.
Kurdish Female Fighters the Western Depiction of YPJ Combatants in Rojava
Authors: Dean Valentina
Published: February 2024

As this paper is drafted, the YPJ continues to clash against Daesh’s patriarchal impositions. This paper considers three significant questions for its purpose; first, who are Kurdish female fighters and why did they choose to take up arms in an orga- nized militia? Second, how did the Western media portray the YPJ? Third, it consid- ers whether the Western representation of female soldiers is coherent or not with the subject. In conclusion, the essay will attempt to summarize in a nutshell the reality of the Kurdish female fighters. The aim of this essay is to identify a possible misrepresentation of the objective entailed in Rojava’s liberation struggle, since this could com- promise the real understanding of the subject, withholding from the audience the opportunity to learn about the plight of the Kurdish female fighters. The study of YPJ’s representation was pursued with the Analysis of Textual Data (ATD). However, the subject material for the socio-political analysis on the background of YPJ fighters was pursued through reference to books and interviews of Western reporters that were engaged in Rojava. Furthermore, a written interview was submitted to Meral Çiçek, of REPAK (Kurdish Women’s Relation Office). The results show an overall heterogeneous representation of the subject, as it is still not entirely exhaustive. The socio- political and ideological stand of YPJ combatants is often not addressed in a proper manner, therefore diminishing some aspects of their struggle. While Western fascination with Kurdish female fighters has slowed down, the YPJ battle is still ongoing. To that regard, the analysis in this paper ought to be considered as a starting point for further research.
The Economic Geography of Xenophobic Populism: Causes and Implications
Authors: Crouch Colin
Published: February 2024

The current rise of xenophobic populism has a distinct geography. With some exceptions it tends to be concentrated in regions that are outside the main growth activities of the modern economy. Attention has focused on old manufacturing and mining areas in decline, and therefore with relatively poor, working-class populations. However, voting for rightwing populist parties is also strong in certain prosperous areas, which despite their relative wealth, are outside the most dynamic sectors. Both types of area can therefore be covered by the term often used to describe the new populist heartlands – “left behind” – but with rather different implications. In the following we shall examine in turn these issues: the geography of populism; its relationship to the geography of economic sectors; and the kinds of public policthat are relevant to tackling emerging geographical inequalities.
The Moral Implications of the Global Basic Structure as a Subject of Justice
Authors: Corvino Fausto
Published: February 2024

In this article, I discuss whether the theory of justice as fairness famously proposed by John Rawls can justify the implementation of global principles of socio-economic justice, contrary to what Rawls himself maintains. In particular, I dwell on the concept of the basic structure of society, which Rawls defines as “the primary subject of justice” and considers as a prerogative of domestic societies. In the first part, I briefly present Rawls’s theory of socio-economic justice and his account of justice be- tween peoples. I then proceed with the analysis of the cosmopolitan counter-arguments that have been levelled against Rawls’s dualism between domestic and international justice, which mainly revolve around the outlining of a global basic structure as a consequence of globalisation. Between these two opposing poles, I also discuss the intermediate stance taken by those authors who maintain that the empirical dispute between a domestic and a global basic structure is misleading, because the pressing question is whether the unfair practices and norms that characterise the global economy demand the existence of a global basic structure, regardless of the fact that it already exists or not. Lastly, I collect some points, both theoretical and empirical, that have emerged from the analysis and I argue that the theoretical requirement of a global basic structure can have practical implications even if its existence is contradicted in empirical terms.
Le fasi del nazionalismo e il suo futuro. Ernest Gellner 1964-1997
Authors: Quartirolo Jacopo Paolo
Published: February 2024

Nationalism can be addressed as one of the main forces in modern world. Explaining the mechanisms behind its functioning had been one of the tasks of Ernest Gellner’s works. Throughout the comparison of the thesis exposed in three books: Thought and Change written in 1964, Nations and Nationalism written in 1983, and Nationalism, edited posthumous in 1997, the paper tries to reconstruct the argumentations adopted by the author to face the problem of the variety of the different species of nationalism. At the beginning of his career, Gellner elaborates a “dynamic” theory of nationalism where the main differences between its manifestations are the effect of the uneven impact of the tidal wave of industrialization that invests different territories in different times. Twenty years later, event thought the author maintains the theory of the uneven impact of the tidal wave, he tries to elaborate a typology of nationalism, that can be seen as a “static” theory valid independently from historical and geographical circumstances. But in the posthumous book Gellner abandons the typology and develops a deeper dynamic theory for explaining the nationalism in Europe. Starting from the variety and phases of the phenomenon the paper tries to presents the different ways how Gellner imagined the future of nationalism: the author elaborate, on the basis of David Hume’s theory of religion, the idea that we will assist at an ebb and flow: from the agriculture era, where culture and State do not coincide, the industrialization glorified the connection between culture/language and State, but the mature industrial society will contemplate a new balance where culture and State won’t coincide anymore.
What Threat The Campaign Against “Gender Ideology”
Authors: Butler Judith
Published: February 2024

The idea of gender ideology emerged in the 1990s when the Roman Catholic Family Council warned against the idea of “gender” as a threat to the family and to biblical authority. In subsequent years, gender has become an issue in several major elections all over the world. Gender is understood as a single “ideology” that refutes the reality of sexual difference and that seeks to appropriate the divine power of creation for those who wish to create their own genders. Today the defense of the natural and normative character of the heterosexually organized family, linked with the insistence that reproduction requires heterosexuality and the privileged power of the father within the family, becomes an especially intense political issue where state-funded social services to families have been decimated and dependency on Churches has increased for basic services to those abandoned by the state. Significantly, the radical changes in economic life, including the loss of basic structures of social welfare produce a heightened sense of precarity and fear among popu- lations who are then told that it is “gender ideology” that is breaking apart the family, destroying heterosexuality as a natural law, threatening both God’s creative powers and civilization itself. In this paper, I would suggest that we understand the historical formulation of neoliberalism and financialization (the imperative to increase assets at the expense of securing fair wages) not as the cause of the anti-gender ideology movement, but as part of the complex scene of heightened conflict where nationalism, racism, and heightened militarism ally with anti-gender ideology propaganda.
A Possible Road Map for European Comprehensive Collective Security
Authors: Schulze Peter W.
Published: February 2024

The current international order is in transition, driven by the interplay of its main actors: Washington, Moscow, Beijing, and less significantly, the European Union. Other emerging powers are also challenging the present arrangement and if successful, they will eventually create a multipolar global order. The transient international order is currently characterised by chronic instability, regional and global turmoil, and a dramatic decline in its ease of governance. The two decades of the new millennium saw fundamental changes in the power constellation of international actors. Those changes affected Europe and will further determine opportunities to establish a peace and security order for the whole of Europe. The central question is whether the emerging multipolar order can provide security and welfare for the inter- national community. Or, will we see policies based on protracted narrow definitions of national interests, undermining opportunities for trust and confidence-building among the driving forces of the transformation process? Are we bound to reawaken memories of the bipolar, Cold War era, with its proxy wars that instrumentalised domestic and regional conflicts for external purposes?
Adoption and Adaptation of Communication Audit in Corporate Communications
Authors: Gupta Mona
Published: February 2024

Communication is the lifeline of every organization. A communication audit is an idea, a concept, tool or instrument used to diagnose strengths and weaknesses of the communication system of the organization. Corporate communications are the communication functions of an organization, actively involved in the decision-making process, and forming a strategy for handling internal and external communications. The following paper studies three objectives, first to understand the relevance of adoption of communication audit, second to analyze the reasons for adoption and rejection of  communication audit, and lastly, to find out the adaptation of communication audit in corporate communications. Corporate communication managers were interviewed and the data was analyzed based on the adoption theory of Everett Rogers’s Theory of Diffusion of Innovation. By analyzing the persuasive and decision making factors for adopting a communication audit, and finding out a list of adapted tools used in the department, there is a clear indication of the need for adoption of communication audit in the corporate communication department. Also, looking at the other ways used for analyzing communication, an adaptation of communication audits in some form has also been seen in the corporate communications of organizations.
Transport Network Analysis a Case Study of Perambalur District (Tamil Nadu) Using GIS
Authors: Dayalan N.
Published: February 2024

Road transport is the main mode of transportation in developing countries, as it allocates flexibility to the commonly scattered spatial configuration. Improving the road transport system increases accessibility and mobility, thus reducing travel costs and travel time. A good road transport system can bring many benefits to a country because transport is a mechanism for economic and social progress. Hence, the Road Transport System across the Perambalur District was selected as the study area for the preparation of the basic map. In this study area, we use the Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Cyclometric, Pie Index, Eta Index, Theta Index, Grid Tree Proportion Index, Network Density, Connectivity, Accessibility and Detour Index parameters to understand the topology pattern and road transport system in the study area. In this study, ArcGIS 9.3 software is used to digitize traffic network data, build a network dataset, and analyse the network using graphical theoretical steps to model network configuration. From Perambalur towns to other vertices, the distance is small and so it can be connected to all the vertices easily which indicates that the transport network pattern is good in Perambalur town.
Pathological Localism or Vernacular Glocalization Populism, Globalism and the Everyday Politics of Anger
Authors: Axford Barrie
Published: February 2024

Globality and consciousness of it are reflexively linked, possibly through a modal empathy whereby all humanity has a built-in predisposition for social understanding and cooperation. But in more ardent accounts of world-making, global awareness produces not empathy but identities in conflict, insecurity and woundingly agonistic politics. An intriguing and forceful example of global consciousness having the potential to cut both ways is the current wave of populism: a seemingly localist force that may still produce glocalist outcomes. This essay explores some of the visceral factors that underlie such variability.
Figurations of Alterity an Encounter with the Archive
Authors: Gorbach Frida
Published: February 2024

In this work I ponder about the archive based on three images from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries: the drawing of a monster from the Teratology collection of the Museo Nacional de México preserved today in the Biblioteca Nacional de Antropología e Historia; the photography of animals that are part of what was the collection of the Museo de Historia Natural del Chopo and that today protects the Fototeca Nacional; and the copy of a drawing of a hysterical woman that is part of the iconography of the French hospital de la Salpêtrière and that was reproduced in Mexico in a scientific journal. With the perspective offered by the “archival turn”, these individual images speak about the procedures of classification, hierarchy and exclusion that organized the knowledge system. They also show three ways of articulating madness, the bestial and the primitive, three figures of the Other from the West, three paths that lead to the “Indian”, that descendant of the pre-Hispanic inhabitants of the American continent on whose erasure was erected the scientific normalizing discourse and the nation-state.
Living in Proximity in a Living City
Authors: Moreno Carlos
Published: February 2024

Rethinking urban life in a world of massive disruptions (climate change, air pollution, nature, water biodiversity and now Covid-19) has become one of the greatest challenges of the 21st century. To face these crises we must urgently address lifestyles and mobility, move away from the omnipresent car and the petroleum era and question what kind of city we really want to live in. The proposition of Professor Carlos Moreno is the “15-Minute City” concept, in a compact zone (or the “30 Minute Territory” in a semi-dense or sparse zone), where inhabitants can access all their essential needs of life: living, working, supplying, caring, educating, enjoying. The 15-Minute City addresses the key components required for a sustainable world (ecological, social, economic) and integrates the concepts of chrono-urbanism, chronotopia, and topophilia. This reinvention of proximities utilizes the convergence of open data, digital mapping, geolocation and the massification of new services. Nevertheless, citizens and their quality of life are always at the heart of the 15-Minute City. It is thus a polycentric city which combines urban intelligence, social inclusion and technological innovation and ultimately defines itself as an urban life planning. Paris is among the world’s first cities to have implemented the 15-Minute City, where it is famously quoted as the “big-bang of proximities”. It has recognized this innovative approach based on a global and systemic vision of the city in order to meet the fundamental needs of its inhabitants and to urgently address the unprecedented challenges it is facing today. This concept has now become a global movement.
Diagnosing and managing psoriasis in primary care
Authors: Perry Margaret
Published: February 2024

This common chronic skin condition is distressing for patients affecting their well being and quality of life. Margaret Perry provides an overview of this condition, its symptoms and management.

Psoriasis is a long-term chronic condition, which often follows a relapsing and remitting course, requiring treatment throughout the affected person's life. It can be distressing for patients affecting their well being and quality of life. This article aims to give nurses and non-medical prescribers an overview of this condition, its symptoms and management with the hope that they may feel more confident in recognising and treating this distressing disease.
WEIGHT BEAR THEN DISCHARGE: A SAFE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY FOR ISOLATED WEBER B LATERAL MALLEOLUS FRACTURES. OUTCOMES OF 658 PATIENTS
Authors: Martin D. H. , Ng N. , Armstong B. , Brennan J. , Feng T. , Lekuse K. , White T. O. , Mackenzie S. P.
Published: February 2024

Myriad protocols exist for isolated Weber B lateral malleolus fractures with a congruent tibiotalar joint on initial radiographs. Stress and weight-bearing radiographs, all at various timepoints, may be employed to identify those injuries that develop significant talar shift but consensus is elusive. This study outlines a safe and reproducible protocol for such injuries, utilising a removable orthosis, immediate weight bearing and standard supine radiographs.

A retrospective analysis of a prospective trauma database was analysed to identify patients with an isolated Weber B ankle fracture with adequate presentation radiographs demonstrating a congruent mortise. Patient records and radiographs were evaluated a minimum of 5 years after initial presentation to determine ankle stability, complications, and the burden on outpatient services.

Between 2014 and 2016, 657 patients were referred to the specialist trauma clinic from the emergency department. Of the 657, 52 patients had inadequate ED radiographs to determine ankle congruity. At the two-week assessment, 11 of the 52 demonstrated talar shift and required intervention. Therefore 646 patients demonstrated ankle congruity at two weeks after weight bearing. No patient demonstrated talar shift at the six-week assessment. Average number of follow up appointments was 2.4 with 3.5 radiographs. Our new treatment protocol advocates discharge after a single orthopaedic assessment after two weeks of weight bearing.

This study supports immediate weight-bearing of Weber B ankle fractures with a congruent mortise in an orthosis. Follow up beyond two weeks is unnecessary and our protocol offers a safe means of significantly reducing the outpatient burden.
INVESTIGATING THE EFFICACY OF SURGICAL AND NON-SURGICAL TREATMENT OPTIONS FOR MORTON'S NEUROMA BASED ON THEIR SIZE
Authors: Macleod D. , Anand S. S. , Drampalos E. , Syed T.
Published: February 2024

Data was collected for patients referred to the orthopaedic department at Forth Valley Royal Hospital with metatarsalgia who subsequently received an ultrasound. Patients found to have a Morton's neuroma were divided into groups based on its size.

A total of 90 patients received an ultrasound scan and neuroma was confirmed in 58 with an alternative diagnosis found in 32 patients and a total of 42 were included in the final analysis.

All 14 patients with neuroma < 6mm reported resolution of symptoms. 4 (28.5%) underwent surgical excision as first line, 1 (7%) received a single corticosteroid injection and 9 (64%) were treated with metatarsal bars.

There were 27 patients with neuroma > 6mm; 8 (29.6%) underwent surgical excision as first line treatment, 5 (18.5%) received metatarsal bars and 14 (51.9%) received injections. 7 (25.9%) patients reported resolution of symptoms after 1 injection, 1 (3.7%) patient required 2 injections and 1 (3.7%) patient required 3 injections to achieve resolution. 5 (18.5%) patients required surgical excision following ongoing symptoms despite non-surgical treatment. 9 (33.3%) reported resolution of symptoms following injection. 5 (18.5%) reported resolution of symptoms following use of metatarsal bars.

A total of 71% of patients with a neuroma measuring < 6mm reported full resolution of symptoms with non-surgical treatment. For patients with neuroma >6mm, 64.3% had resolution of symptoms with injections alone and 18.5% required surgical excision despite injection.

In conclusion, there is a benefit to offering non-surgical treatment as first line in patients with a neuroma regardless of size.