bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Definition as Situated Interpretational Vector
Authors: Engler Steven , Gardiner Mark Q.
Published: July 2024

This short piece responds to the sixteen commentaries included in this special issue of Aries, each of which addressed aspects of our target article, ‘(Re)defining Esotericism: Fluid Definitions, Property Clusters and the Cross-Cultural Debate’. We reaffirm our approach with a metaphor: defining is a process of guiding interpretation in a certain direction from a certain starting point; and academic disciplines, like the study of esotericism, provide especially useful contexts for situating such semantic vectors. The response addresses issues of disciplinary context, the nature of consensus and philosophical views of meaning.
“Meine Stimme auf der Suche nach ihrem Weg” – Eine Rekonstruktion des Personalismus M. A. Lahbabis aus der Erfahrung von Gefangenschaft und Exil
Authors: Kneer Markus
Published: July 2024

The postcolonial discourse in the Maghrib was dominated by the political Left for a long time. Thus, other approaches of coming to terms with the experience of colonialism were marginalized. It was Abdelkébir Khatibi’s book Maghreb Pluriel which made it possible to acknowledge these other discourses in their own way of criticizing colonialism, without reading them from the beginning with a hermeneutics of suspicion. In establishing one of these discourses the founder of the modern Moroccan academic philosophy, Mohamed Aziz Lahbabi, played a substantial role: His experience of depersonalization during the colonial period was the starting point for his search of being a person, and for his personalist philosophy.
Beyond Hagiography: Gender and Violence in the Earliest Liturgy for Pelagius
Authors: Ihnat Kati
Published: July 2024

Pelagius is most famously known as the saint who was martyred by the tenth-century emir of Córdoba for not submitting to his advances. The story has fascinated historians of gender and sexuality for the ways in which it appears to challenge gendered standards of sanctity. But was this how Pelagius was remembered in the sources with which he was first venerated? This article looks beyond the hagiographical narrative that has mostly concerned historians to the existing liturgies for the saint as celebrated according to the Old Hispanic Rite, with a Mass and three distinct offices surviving in multiple manuscripts from early medieval Iberia. Close study of the liturgy reveals how liturgists consciously shaped the identity of Pelagius, borrowing materials and tropes from both male and female saints in order to anchor an unusual contemporary saint in old models.
A Wet Nurse Debate: Jews, Christians, and Later Medieval “Racism”
Authors: Resnick Irven M.
Published: July 2024

It is clear that medieval Jews employed Christian wet nurses, as well as other Christian domestic servants, and that ecclesiastical condemnations did not prevail against social and economic interests. In Etsi Judeos Pope Innocent III, who had earlier complained loudly that Jews across France are unscrupulous usurers, thieves, blasphemers, and secret murderers of Christians, added the unsubstantiated complaint that “on the day of the Lord’s Resurrection,” i.e., Easter, after they have received the Eucharist, “the Jews make these women,” that is, Christian wet nurses, “pour their milk into the latrine for three days before they again give suck to the children.”

This paper surveys both the ecclesiastical and medical or natural-philosophical sources that contributed to a protracted medieval debate over maternal nursing versus the employment of wet nurses; examines Innocent III’s allegation that Jews force their Christian wet nurses to pour out their milk for three days after having received communion, and its novel implications; investigates complaints of cross-confessional nursing (whether of Christians nursing Jewish infants, or Jewish or Muslim wet nurses in Christian households); and explores a shift in later medieval and early modern Christian texts away from concerns over Christian wet nurses caring for Jewish infants toward racialized fears of Jewish women nursing Christian children.
The Effect of the Members’ Religious Activity and the Church’s Clergy on Church Growth by the Example of Estonian Protestant Churches
Authors: Lilleorg Ago , Murakas Rein
Published: July 2024

The article aims to examine religious activity in Christian churches. In order to achieve this goal, religious activity is defined through religious practices such as church attendance, prayer, and Bible reading. The data used in the article are taken from a survey of growing churches (hereafter referred to as KK2020, n=350), in which nine Estonian growing churches participated. The main comparative base is the sociological survey on religion “On Life, Faith and Religious Life” (EUU2020, n=1000), conducted in Estonia. As a result of the analysis, the article presents an overview of religious activity indicators for growing churches, ordinary churches, and the adult Estonian population and compares growing churches of different denominations. Based on the results, it can be hypothesized that religious activity of church members and minister has positive influence on church growth.
Uterus Transplantation: A Future Issue for the French Legislator?
Authors: Bérar Antoine , Marcucci Laetitia , Bouvet Renaud
Published: July 2024

Uterus transplantation (UT) is a surgical procedure that seeks to correct absolute uterine infertility. As such, it is coupled with assisted reproductive technologies (ART). Currently performed as an investigational procedure in France, this technique could be subject to a legal framework in the future. Given its specificities, the French legislator will need to state their position on several matters. Regarding the donor, they will need to determine whether the benefits for the infertile woman justify exposure of a living person to the risks of the removal procedure. If necessary, they will have full freedom to set the criteria for selecting the living donor based on age, the existence or not of past pregnancies or the nature of the donor-recipient relationship. On the other side, the conditions for becoming a recipient should be consistent with the existing rules for ART. Other considerations could include age and past pregnancies again. Lastly, the legislator will also need to address the possible desire for UT without the endpoint of pregnancy.
Statelessness of Rohingyas and their Right to Bangladeshi Citizenship
Authors: Sabuj Mohammad
Published: July 2024

Since the outbreak of violence and persecution against Rohingyas in 2017 they have been fleeing Myanmar and taking refuge in Bangladesh. A significant number of them are married to a Bangladeshi citizen and their children are entitled to Bangladeshi citizenship by descent. However, these Rohingyas are not registered as Bangladeshi citizens. As a result, a significant number of Rohingyas and their children have become stateless. As Bangladesh is not a party to the statelessness conventions, the issues surrounding the statelessness of these Rohingyas can hardly be addressed under these conventions. This article explores the citizenship rights of these Rohingyas outside of these conventions. It argues that, although Bangladesh is not a party to the statelessness conventions it is a party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child and other international human rights treaties under which it is obliged to grant citizenship status to the Rohingyas who are married to a Bangladeshi citizen or born to a Bangladeshi parent.
Pentecost Mission, Eschatology, and the Embodiment of the Full Gospel in a Wounded World
Authors: Laughlin Peter
Published: July 2024

Pentecostal mission activity was initially motivated by a commitment to the premillennial return of Christ. This eschatological basis for mission was driven by a number of factors, not least being interpretations of Matthew 24:14, in which the gospel needed to reach every nation before the end would come. But a focus on the next world also led Pentecostal mission strategy away from this world concerns, and Pentecostals have long been criticized for a history of mission that involved proclamation of a future hope without any form of present-day relief. In an increasingly wounded world, such an approach becomes less and less palatable, which is why there has now been a significant shift towards social justice and welfare aspects of mission within Pentecostal efforts. However, it has been argued that the relegation of eschatological motivation to the periphery of mission has detrimental consequences for Pentecostal mission as a whole and therefore needs to be rethought (Ma and Ma 2010:280). This article endeavors to contribute to this discussion by drawing together theological and missiological reflections on the Pentecostal full gospel to reflect on whether such relegation is inevitable, or whether an amended eschatological vision is still helpful for mission efforts in a wounded world.
Structures of Trust and the COVID-19 Pandemic
Authors: West Catherine , Godage Kanchana Dodan
Published: July 2024

Sinhala Buddhists in inner-city Colombo, Sri Lanka, turned to local- and national-level structures of trust in their quest to stay safe and mitigate suffering during the COVID-19 pandemic. We explore this through an ethnographic case study of the Sri Narada temple in Narahenpita and a textual analysis of the national government’s response to the pandemic. Our research shows that both the temple and national government advocated similar pathways to immunity, including vaccination, Ayurveda, and Buddhism. We argue that in both instances, conceptions of health are plural and relational and embedded in the broader social context, as opposed to individualist notions of health. They also encompass moral issues around social service, merit, and what it means to be a “good” Buddhist. However, these common pathways led to dissimilar outcomes, mediated by qualitatively different relations of trust.
The Oldest Past of Christianity
Authors: Braun Willi
Published: July 2024

The article argues that just as religion is manufactured or invented, so is tradition and history. This starting point is worked out with reference to history as a discursive construction, the past as fictioned in the present. The past does not exist independently of historical practice. History is a tool for ideological persuasion and ideological criticism in the chaotic, disputed and contested present. This understanding of historiography is brought to bear on the scholarly discourse on Christian origins, highlighting the performativity or mythic character of conventional reconstructions of the historical Jesus and the formation of early Christianity, in which sacred apologetic texts are employed as ethnographic sources. What is called for is to take leave of the “stance of the faithful,” and to reorient the study of the history of Christian origins away from a “protectionist doxa” towards a critical historiography that understands early Christian history as invented or manufactured.
Manuscript Mystique
Authors: Oliveira Nycholas L.D.
Published: July 2024

The following study takes its cue from a body of literature that seeks to challenge the academic discourse on “religion” as transcendent, irreducible, and unique – sui generis. Naturally, a sui generis conception of religion also views religion’s objects through a lens of transcendence and divine authority. These objects possess immense meaning potential and act as social mediators in particular social contexts. In both ancient and modern times, early Christian manuscripts are examples of such religious objects. They are evidence of the literary practices of early Christians and are windows into their social contexts, reflecting how these believers navigated their socio-cultural realities. Modern scholars often use these manuscripts as evidence to postulate the existence of homogeneous Christian communities who created these texts for their theological upliftment. However, are such postulations supported by the material evidence? This paper examines one case study where 𝔓72 has been propped up as a witness to the presence of a coherent unified proto-orthodox Christian community in the fourth century CE in Egypt. The following research concludes that extant evidence points to a socio-religious context in Egypt during this period that was remarkably complex; as such, the existence of such a community cannot be supported.
Oliveira Martins’s Alexander the Great in O Helenismo e a civilização cristã
Authors: Modanez de Sant’Anna Henrique
Published: July 2024

This article analyzes Joaquim Pedro de Oliveira Martins’s view of Alexander the Great as described in O helenismo e a civilização cristã (1878). I argue, first, that Oliveira Martins’s increasing interest in Hellenism’s contribution to the rise of Christianity is part of his attempt to make sense of his own time, and a consequence of his early revolutionary ideals. Second, I advance the debate about Oliveira Martins’s ancient sources, arguing that his use of Plutarch’s account alone in Chapter 6 (“Alexander’s empire”) is not arbitrary. In fact, it both reflects and supports his view on the Macedonian king as a revolutionary historical figure, whom he calls “Alexander the Messiah.”
Revolution, Morality, and Heroism in Angola
Authors: Martins Vasco
Published: July 2024

This article explores the political uses of frameworks of heroism in Angola. It argues that after independence and governing a country it had to decolonize, the MPLA promoted a specific political morality and civic virtue by referencing its own heroes and heroines. It used its youth, women, and children’s party organizations as vehicles to indoctrinate society in the new revolutionary values and behaviours. Yet, after an immense work of signification, the archive on heroism and morality, specific to a political period, was made obsolete due to the political changes after the turn to democracy and end of the civil war.
The Independence of Cabo Verde: from the Diaspora to the Archipelago
Authors: Almada e Santos Aurora
Published: July 2024

The independence of Cabo Verde achieved on 5 July 1975 was not a straightforward process. From 1950s onwards, multiple anticolonial organizations having different ideas and interests challenged Portuguese colonial rule in the archipelago. Nonetheless, only the African Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cabo Verde (PAIGC: Partido Africano para a Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde) was recognized as the representative of the populations and gained access to the negotiations with Portugal in 1974. This paper aims to contribute to a greater understanding of how the PAIGC became a leading organization in the negotiations for the independence of Cabo Verde, sidelining other actors with alternative views for the territory.
Separate Peaks: Reasons to Reject Derek Parfit’s Views about Theoretical Moral Convergence
Authors: Walen Alec
Published: July 2024

Derek Parfit argued that “Kantians, Contractualists, and Consequentialists … are climbing the same mountain on different sides.” By that he meant that when their views are properly developed, they will converge. One reason to reject his substantive view, however, is that he could not see how to account for the deontological intuition that it is very hard to justify using people as a means. Matthew Oliver offers a clever way for evaluator-neutral consequentialists like Parfit to account for that intuition. But Oliver’s account runs into two problems: the axiology itself is problematic, and it seems inconsistent with other deep deontological intuitions. I offer a different development of contractualism that accounts for the relevant deontological intuitions, but it’s a fundamentally different “mountain.” Convergence is not in sight, but one can still hope that all climbers will eventually migrate to the better mountain.
UK saddle survey part 1 – saddle use & preferences in horses and riders
Authors: Marlin D.J. , Williams J.M. , Tabor G.
Published: July 2024

Saddles are almost certainly one of the most commonly used pieces of equipment and are used by the majority of riders in many equestrian disciplines. Despite a large number of studies relating to saddle fit and function, there appear to be no published data describing the basic demographics of saddle use, rider preferences or discipline differences. This study was designed as an online survey consisting of 20 closed questions and 4 open free text questions split into three sections: (1) participant demographics; (2) saddle use; and (3) impact of saddle use on the horse and rider. The survey was live for 20 days and 65% of the responses were obtained within the first 8 days. A total of 4,527 horse owners/keepers undertook the survey with 3,624 complete responses (80.1% completion rate). The majority of respondents were female (98.1%, n = 3,555). The four most popular disciplines respondents participated in were pleasure riding/hacking (82.6%, n = 2,994), dressage (71.6%, n = 2,595), show jumping (48.2%, n = 1,747) and eventing (33.3%, n = 1,205). Most horse owners and keepers engaged in non-competitive or local/unaffiliated level competition (59.0%, n = 2,136). The majority of respondents (59.2%, n = 2,145) did not use saddles on more than one horse. When selecting a saddle, respondents valued comfort for the horse as essential (92.6%, n = 4,073), followed by injury prevention (essential; 66.5%, n = 2,838) and then performance related attributes (essential; 56.9%, n = 2,459). When selecting a saddle to buy, durability was the most important feature for respondents (92.5%), who also rated weight, price, and leather (63.0%, 66.5% and 67.7%, respectively) as key attributes they would require.
Transcending the Conventional Development Paradigm in Africa: What about the Afro-modernism Way?
Authors: Ishengoma Nelson M.
Published: July 2024

While empirical evidence evinces that the conventional development model has significantly yielded desired socioeconomic impacts in the North, the same has virtually failed to demonstrate similar scores in Africa. Today, poverty, in its dimensionality, constitutes the lives of many people on the continent. According to this paper, this situation calls for a new philosophical and pragmatic shift – the Afro-modernism model. Therefore, this paper aims to examine the potential and relevance of this theory insofar as Africa’s development impasse is concerned. This analytical paper has benefited from a systematic review of empirical and theoretical literature. It argues that despite inherent intricacies, the theory presents the continent with a unique opportunity to genuinely engage with and draw from a communally-informed framework – “ubuntu” in the process of reimagining and reinventing the community’s aspirations and goals, but at the same time, making use of the most relevant attributes present in the prevailing dominant conventional model for a comprehensively desired outcome.
An Indigenous Cosmovision for Earth-Centric Governance
Authors: Hossain Kamrul
Published: July 2024

The following article critically examines how the structure of international law falls short of embracing common global problems. In this context, the article focuses on the ecological aspects of governance that tend to go beyond state-centric interests. Putting forward an overview of how issues beyond the states’ national jurisdiction are addressed in the present structure of international law, the article examines the challenges of incorporating the Earth-centric approach reflected in the Indigenous cosmovision into that body of law. While the analysis does not attempt to provide any conclusive solutions, it argues that the Earth-centric approach cannot be incorporated into the current international legal framework. Although absolutely indispensable for a sustainable planetary process, the approach would require a complete deconstruction of the global legal order or a radical re-organization of the current structure of international law.
Orthodox Christians in Lithuania
Authors: Frėjutė-Rakauskienė Monika , Marcinkevičius Andrius
Published: July 2024

In this article we will examine how ethnicity (Russians and Russian speakers of mixed ethnic identities) and religion (Orthodoxy) interact and construct ethnoreligious identity in the case of Orthodox Christians in Lithuania. To investigate these aspects, the article will draw on data from qualitative fieldwork (2019–2021) and the analysis of articles from the official journal of the archdiocese of Vilnius and Lithuania. We argue that for the Orthodox community in Lithuania, the historically established close links of Orthodoxy with Russian Orthodox tradition and Russian identity are important today. However, a significant part of the Lithuanian Orthodox community identifies with the global (Byzantium) and/or local (Grand Duchy of Lithuania) Orthodox tradition and faces the challenge of including the Lithuanian language in religious education and practices.
Between the Church and the State
Authors: Pullan Danielle , Gannon Payton
Published: July 2024

Supranational cultural institutions and communities play an interesting role in the development of abortion policy both historically and today. In this article we consider two such institutions: the Catholic Church and the European community. The church is famously antiabortion, and we describe the ways in which the Catholic position manifests itself in different countries. Conversely, almost all European countries have liberal laws that allow abortion on demand for twelve weeks of pregnancy. Italy sits at the intersection of European and Catholic identities. Italy adopted European-style liberal abortion laws early, but Italians continue to identify with the church in surveys, which is one of the causes of high levels of conscientious objection by medical professionals. Italy’s abortion policy pleases neither Catholics nor secularists. We explain this by understanding Italy’s abortion law as liberal de jure, but its culture is still heavily influenced by Catholicism, resulting in limited abortion access de facto.
China’s Approach to Human Security within and outside UN Peacekeeping: Drawing Lessons from South Sudan
Authors: Peter Mateja , Wang Ruoxi
Published: July 2024

China’s relationship with human security has been ambiguous. It has acted as the most visible objector of the concept, while simultaneously contributing the most troops of all UN Security Council permanent members to UN protection of civilians (poc) peacekeeping missions. To analyse this ambiguity, we develop a typology of activities used by external actors to address human security concerns: mediation, physical protection including the use of force, and capacity building. The typology draws on the three constituent responsibilities in Responsibility to Protect (R2P) and closely aligns with the three tiers of the UN peacekeeping poc policy. We apply our typology on China’s engagement with the South Sudan civil war. We posit two interlinked arguments. First, we argue that China pursues a dual-track approach to human security, within and outside multilateral deployments, and these need to be read simultaneously to appreciate its understanding of the concept. Second, we argue for a refocus on all three types of activities. While most research has focused on the Chinese approach to the use of force, we show that the two other types of activities—mediation and capacity building —present highly productive sites of contestation. Given the current global fragmentation, where any authorisation of the use of force in the unsc and robust peacekeeping deployments are increasingly improbable, understanding Chinese understandings of human security within mediation and capacity building is of paramount importance.
A Case for Old Frisian Vowel Balance as Prosodically-driven Vowel Reduction
Authors: Smith Laura Catharine
Published: July 2024

Drawing on data from the Old Frisian Riustring manuscripts, modern Frisian dialects, as well as older and more modern Scandinavian dialects and languages, this article argues for two points: first, that Vowel Balance is ultimately a reduction process, and second, that a foot-based analysis can account for Vowel Balance. In Old Frisian, i and u appear after light stems while e and o are found after heavy and polysyllabic stems; in some other languages and dialects, vowels after heavy and polysyllabic stems are reduced supporting an interpretation of e and o as reduced allophonic variants of i and u respectively. Two caveats can be made for arguments in favour of interpreting Vowel Balance as a reduction process, namely the case of trimoraic Vowel Balance in disyllabic words, and the reinterpretation of the contrast between i~e in Old Frisian as a means of marking the prosodic contrast between stem size. These caveats help clarify how prosody can shape stems both in terms of additional manifestations of Vowel Balance, and extending the vowel alternations based on light-heavy stem contrast to words which would not have otherwise undergone Vowel Balance.
Frisian and Norse Sidelights on the Form and Meaning of Proto-Germanic *hlaþanan
Authors: Stiles Patrick V.
Published: July 2024

The Germanic verb hlaþanan, usually glossed ‘to load’, has been wrongly evaluated because of a failure to examine the material in sufficient depth as regards both phonology and semantics. The Old High German evidence indicating a regular Verner’s Law alternation in the paradigm is supplemented not only by the Gothic past participle -hlaþans* with analogical voiceless spirant but also by modern East and North Frisian data. This points to a pre-Germanic proto-form with root-final *-t (Part 1). As emerges from a study of the situation in North Germanic, a core meaning for the Germanic verb appears to have been ‘to lay something down (flat)’, from which development to ‘to stack’ and ‘to load’ is straightforward (Part 2). Potential cognates exist in Balto-Slavic, but the exact formal relationships are unclear (Part 3).
On a Bed of Frozen Stone
Authors: Rossi Stefano
Published: July 2024

Adopting as theoretical framework Edmund Husserl’s ideas on memory and phantasms and the Derridean notion of ‘hauntology’, this article focuses on the spectral protagonist of Samuel Beckett’s “The Calmative” and on the tangle of memories he recounts from his bed of frozen stone. Resembling Dante’s pilgrimage in the underworld and the excruciating experience of soldiers in trenches, this novella presents a ghostly narrator that, persecuted by the rotting of his corpse and by the trauma of memory, is condemned to an indefinable state of deathlessness-in-death, in which he can only ‘revive’ the everlasting reminiscence of his own demise.
An illustrated guide for the identification of ant subfamilies and genera in Brazil
Authors: Feitosa Rodrigo M. , Dias Amanda M.
Published: July 2024

In this guide we present taxonomic keys for the 12 subfamilies and 117 genera of ants known to occur in Brazil, along with an illustrated glossary of technical terms. The identification keys presented here are accompanied by high-resolution photographs of representative specimens for each taxon covered, including details that aid in the understanding of complex characters. Additionally, we provide comparative information for each genus, including diagnostic morphological traits, predominant habitat occurrence, nesting and foraging strata, collection frequency, and reproductive strategy. We also provide a synopsis of the taxonomic status of each genus, including the number of known species in Brazil in comparison to their global distribution, as well as the occurrence of the ant genera across biomes and the most recent study including taxonomic tools for species identification. The main objective of this guide is to facilitate the accurate identification of ants in Brazil, providing a systematic and practical approach in accessible language for researchers, students, and entomology enthusiasts. We hope to contribute to the advancement of taxonomic, ecological, and applied knowledge of Brazilian ants, as well as provide a tool for diversity studies and environmental education, contributing to the understanding and preservation of ants in the country with the highest biodiversity on the planet.
Conceptualizing Climate Law in India
Authors: Yadav Shashi Kant , O’Meara Noreen , Malcolm Rosalind
Published: July 2024

This article highlights the importance of differentiating between environmental law and climate law in India, and, in doing so, analyses what counts as climate law in that country. It identifies three overarching approaches (trickle-down; Environmental Impact Assessment as climate law; and human rights law and climate change) that the current literature adopts to study and analyse climate law in India. We argue that none of these approaches comprehensively covers climate change mitigation measures adopted in this country. We propose an alternative approach to the analysis of climate law in India, which we call ‘administrative layering’. Accordingly, we outline a three-step process to identify and conceptualize climate law in India.
L’évolution du verbe 听 « écouter » en cenchuanais (xiang, sinitique)
Authors: PENG Daxingwang , TAN Song
Published: July 2024

Cet article est consacré à l’évolution du verbe de perception 听 [tɦjɑŋ215]/[tɦin215] « écouter » en cenchuanais (xiang, sinitique) en Chine. Le développement de 听 « écouter » dans ce dialecte est multidirectionnel, car il évolue non seulement en un verbe causatif employé dans la structure NP1 (causateur) + 听 [tɦin215] + NP2 (causataire) + V dénotant une causalité non interventive, mais aussi en un subordonnant concessif signifiant « peu importe que » ou encore en un adverbe « n’importe comment ». Dans cet article, nous étudions surtout ses propriétés syntaxiques et ses particularités sémantiques lorsqu’il fonctionne comme un verbe causatif, et nous essayons d’élucider ses différentes étapes d’évolution en cenchuanais.
The Diversity of Solidarity in South-South Cooperation: A Case of bapa+40
Authors: Alvian Rizky Alif , Putrawidjoyo Alfredo , Fadhila Zakiah
Published: July 2024

Solidarity is a focal concept in the literature on South-South Cooperation (ssc). This research examines how solidarity is understood by actors involved in ssc. The literature on ssc is divided into two camps. The first camp believes that ssc is firmly grounded in solidarity. Meanwhile, the second camp holds that ssc is motivated by the state’s interest and that solidarity, if it occurs, is merely an epiphenomenon. However, this paper suggests that both camps fail to realize that the concept of solidarity manifests in different ways. Keeping this diversity in mind, a typology of solidarity based on Enlightenment ideas of liberty is utilized to systematically categorize the plurality of the concept. The typology maintains that solidarity can take shape in the form of Hobbesian self-centered solidarity, Kantian reflexive rational solidarity, Humean reflexive emotional solidarity, and Hegelian recognitive solidarity. This study analyses the Second High-Level United Nations Conference on South-South Cooperation (bapa+40) opening speeches and general debate remarks. Types of solidarity are unmasked by examining 38 statements espoused by states, international organisations, and other entities. The findings show that Kantian solidarity is the most prevalent, followed by Hobbesian, Humean, and Hegelian solidarity. Three observations can be inferred in light of these findings. First, the discourse of solidarity in ssc is diverse and multiple. Second, different understandings of solidarity are not evenly distributed amongst statements made by actors of ssc. Some forms of solidarity are more salient. Third, the idea of solidarity is ambivalent. The four types of solidarity articulated are not mutually exclusive. Instead, they can appear simultaneously in actors’ articulation.
The Curious Case of the Disappearance of Pyrrhonism from Continental Philosophy
Authors: Dunphy Robb
Published: July 2024

In this article, evidence is briefly presented for three facts that together point to something puzzling. (1) That major continental philosophers of the nineteenth century tended to engage in some detail, as part of a broader preoccupation with ancient Greek thought, with Pyrrhonian scepticism. (2) That major continental philosophers of the twentieth century tended to engage in some depth with their nineteenth-century forebears and maintained their tendency to engage significantly with ancient Greek thought. (3) That twentieth-century continental philosophers demonstrate little to no interest in Pyrrhonian scepticism. This raises the question: why does engagement with Pyrrhonism disappear from continental philosophy? The article discusses two hypotheses that might explain this disappearance.
Reflections on the Consideration of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in Environmental Impact Assessment
Authors: Pope Jenny
Published: July 2024

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) involves assessing the implications of proposed activities on the environment to inform decisions about whether those actions should proceed and under what conditions. Efforts are being made to incorporate climate change considerations into EIA internationally, but the assessment of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions poses particular challenges. This article compares the incorporation of GHG emissions into EIA in two jurisdictions: Canada (under the Impact Assessment Act 2019) and Western Australia (under the Environmental Protection Act 1986). Four questions are considered, relating to screening and scoping; information requirements; decision-making and condition setting; and post-approval activities. Key differences between the two jurisdictions were found in relation to screening and scoping (Western Australia applies an emissions threshold while Canada utilizes a project list coupled with tailored guidelines); decision-making (Western Australia generally considers a straight line trajectory to net zero by 2050 as acceptable whereas Canada considers emissions in the context of international commitments and against other sustainability considerations); and post-approval activities (a strength of the Western Australian system is mechanisms enabling review and tightening of GHG conditions over time). It will be important to continue to review the effectiveness of EIA as a tool for climate mitigation as practice evolves.
Reflections on Coastal State Response Options in an Era of Sea Level Rise: Practical Challenges and Legal Consequences
Authors: Schofield Clive , Freestone David , Çiçek Duygu
Published: July 2024

This contribution to the Reflections section of Ocean Yearbook devoted to the memory of the late Professor Meinhard Doelle concerns the options available to coastal States in their responses to global sea level rise driven by anthropogenic climate change. These reflections seek to explore the main policy options and practical approaches based on physical interventions in this context and to assess the possible risks as well as benefits of those approaches. They also explore some of the more radical and cutting-edge technologies which are already being deployed. While addressing the physical intervention options and some of their practical and legal implications, this paper also addresses the importance of environmental impact assessments (EIAs) and capacity-building, both of which were key themes in Meinhard Doelle’s work.
Murky Waters: Controlling the Ocean Transit of Floating Nuclear Power Plants
Authors: Sullivan Thomas
Published: July 2024

States are increasingly turning to novel solutions to achieve their energy goals. In response, floating nuclear power plants (FNPPs) have emerged as a potential solution to meet the energy demands of remote and coastal areas. “Build Own Operate” programs have thus been proposed as turnkey commercial endeavors in which supplier States rent FNPP power generation to foreign host States. Given the inherent risks that FNPPs pose, a Build Own Operate plant travelling from supplier nation to host nation jeopardizes the marine environment of innocent coastal States. These transit States currently exist in international law limbo, where the lack of a coherent FNPP definition and limited control over their territorial sea and exclusive economic zone (EEZ) render them powerless in the face of potential environmental disasters. This article proposes enhanced international law protections for the transit States that might see FNPPs travelling through their waters in the coming years. In examining challenges to transit States, the article accomplishes two objectives. First, an international law definition for FNPPs is established. Second, it is proposed that FNPPs should be barred from non-consensual travel through the territorial sea of transit States, and that major restrictions should be placed on their movement through the EEZ.
Less Specific and More Comprehensive? An Analysis of How the Ocean Is Reflected in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework
Authors: Hazin Carolina , Diz Daniela
Published: July 2024

In response to the increasing trend of biodiversity decline globally and its consequences for the planet as a whole, the Convention on Biological Diversity Conference of the Parties adopted the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) in December 2022. The Framework sets conservation, sustainability and equitable sharing of benefits from the use of genetic resources and MEAns of implementation goals to be achieved by 2050, and actionable targets to be achieved by 2030 to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. During the negotiations and even after the adoption of the GBF, much debate has surrounded how the ocean has been represented in the Framework. By addressing the scope of the GBF vis-à-vis the Convention, quantifying and comparing the use of marine-related terms in the GBF and in the previous biodiversity framework, and aligning relevant COP decisions and objectives and activities of the CBD Programme of Work on Marine and Coastal Biodiversity with the GBF targets, we conclude that the GBF does not fail to address marine and coastal biodiversity and all targets are applicable to this ecosystem.
The Fusion of Shiʿism and Sufism in the Thought of Sayyid Ḥaydar Āmulī
Authors: Ali Mukhtar H.
Published: July 2024

This article investigates the influence of Andalusī Sufism in the writings of Persian Sufi scholar Sayyid Ḥaydar Āmulī. It explores Āmulī’s major enterprise to unify Shiʿism and Sufism, which drew upon the conceptual frameworks articulated in Ibn al-ʿArabī’s teachings on the Perfect Human. Āmulī’s Shiʿi-Sufi synthesis is rooted in the concept of wilāya, the unifying element in the Shiʿi doctrine of the Imamate and Ibn al-ʿArabī’s theory of the Perfect Human. Finally, the article translates and analyses the key section on wilāya in Āmulī’s seminal work, Jāmiʿ al-asrār wa manbaʿ al-anwār (The Compendium of Mysteries and Source of Lights).
Inter-State Communications before UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies: Testing the Waters for Collective Communications
Authors: Garciandia Rosana , Gauci Jean-Pierre
Published: July 2024

The awakening of inter-state communications with the first ever three cases before the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in 2018 has inspired new avenues of research about their potential and shortfalls. This article opens a new line of exploration, considering the mechanism’s potential as an avenue for collective action at a time when many States are responding to violations of international law, even when not directly affected by those violations. Those responses have included massive third-party interventions (Ukraine v Russia), and the initiation of proceedings before the icj by States not directly injured (The Gambia v Myanmar, Canada and the Netherlands v Syrian Arab Republic, South Africa v Israel). This article argues that enabling collective inter-state communications before UN treaty bodies could strengthen the mechanism as an avenue for treaty compliance and the protection of human rights, and for amplifying sovereign voices as part of peaceful dispute settlement processes.
Wandering under the Oil Palm Canopy
Authors: Rahmadian Gaffari , de Jong Edwin B.P. , Kutanegara Pande Made
Published: July 2024

During the past two decades, Indonesia has transformed a third of its rainforest into oil palm plantations. Although attention has been paid to the environmental consequences, the connection between oil palm cultivation and the evolving use of alcohol within local communities has received little attention. Studies conducted within rural communities have demonstrated that significant environmental changes frequently result in increased drug and alcohol consumption. Through an ethnographic study of an Indonesian village, this article reveals how the changing living and working environments have not only altered people’s ‘place-world’ but also their sense of identity and position in the world, leaving many disoriented and lost in the homogenous expanse of oil palm plantations. This has seemingly led to increased alcohol use among the village community. This finding offers a fresh and updated way to understand and interrogate the challenges with regard to present-day human-nature relations in agricultural interventions in Indonesia and beyond.
Personality Functioning, Narcissism and Borderline Traits in the General Population Predict Deviations from the Optimal Time Perspective
Authors: Dussault Olivier , Grondin Simon , Laverdière Olivier
Published: July 2024

The aim of this article is to clarify and describe the relationships between levels of personality functioning, pathological personality traits from the borderline and narcissistic functioning, and time perspective (TP). The study was conducted online, and 210 participants completed eight questionnaires: Inventory of Personality Organization, Boredom Proneness Scale, Rejection Sensitivity Questionnaire, Barratt Impulsiveness Scale, Hypersensitive Narcissism Scale, Narcissistic Admiration and Rivalry Questionnaire, Depressive Experience Questionnaire, and Zimbardo Time Perspective Inventory. The results reveal that the pathological personality functioning was consistently associated with a deviation on each dimension of TP and the Deviation from the Balanced Time Perspective (DBTP) while the higher functioning personality indicator was associated with a balanced time perspective. When accounting for all traits in the regression, pathological personality traits predicted variance of Past-Negative, Present-Hedonistic, Present-Fatalistic, and the DBTP. Borderline and narcissistic traits were associated with the DBTP but demonstrated different time perspective profiles. Borderline traits showed an overall negative TP with a tendency to seek quick and intense pleasure in the present with no regards toward the future. These results show that there can be TP profile differences between borderline personalities, depending on their specific trait profile. Impulsivity plays an important role in how borderline personalities cope with their negative temporalities. Vulnerable narcissism is characterized by a negative past with the ability to recruit the future, while grandiose narcissism denotes an overall more balanced time perspective than their vulnerable counterpart.
The Distinct Linguistic Reality of the Jews in Late Antique Palestine and Babylonia as Reflected in the Lexicosyntax of ‮אפשר‬‎ ʾpšr
Authors: Bunis Ivri J.
Published: July 2024

Aramaic influence on Hebrew among Jews in the Land of Israel is well established, especially from the Persian period (from the sixth century BCE) until it completely replaced Hebrew as the natively spoken vernacular sometime before the Arab conquest (seventh century CE). Scholars have paid little attention to the Jews of that period as a distinct speech community, the uniqueness of their dialect or dialects of Aramaic, and the possibility that their ancestral language, Hebrew, had influenced their unique dialects of Aramaic. The present article aims to illuminate these understudied questions by analyzing the syntax of the lexeme ‮אפשר‬‎ ʾpšr, unique to Rabbinic Hebrew and the Jewish dialects of Qumran, Targumic, and Talmudic Aramaic from Palestine and Babylonia. This lexeme, and its shared syntax among those languages and dialects, points to an early use of language to maintain ethnic and religious distinctness among Jews in antiquity.
Measuring Abstraction Levels of Sculptural Objects
Authors: Lyon Gordon E. , Lyon Merritt R.
Published: July 2024

Freestanding sculpture can be scored for abstraction using order scales such as the three-rank ‘realistic,’ ‘mixed,’ and ‘abstract.’ Subjective but invaluable, the ranks support ordering but not arithmetic. Numeric limitations can be addressed via information-theoretic metrics that measure collective uncertainty about a sculpture; to this end 60 participants view 25 images of sculpture via an internet questionnaire. They (i) score each depicted object and (ii) type a caption stating what impression the object evokes. Captions for the image are simplified to their English simple subject, sorted into classification categories and counted. A metric converts an image’s categories and counts into viewers’ uncertainty. The investigation examines four-rank and five-rank scales plus metrics CC (category count), H (entropy) and EC ≡ 2H (equalized category count). Medians of scores or uncertainties reduce variability as appropriate. Comparisons of scores vs uncertainties show the two generally correlate well. Results also highlight inherent design tradeoffs. Scale/metric pairings affect both ranks (which should be statistically distinct) and rank/uncertainty correlations. Two good combinations are [four-rank; median CC] and [five-rank; median EC]. Metric CC is easy to compute and correlates slightly better than EC, although the latter supports five evenly separated ranks. Shifting focus to image scatterplots, the pair [four-rank median score; CC] yields a very strong correlation. Once uncertainties are linked to ranks to ‘calibrate’ them, one gets a quantitative sense of the rank order scale. The augmented framework offers the speed and ease of scoring along with valid numeric estimates of uncertainty unavailable from ranks alone.
Effects of livestock grazing on herbaceous species composition and biomass in the Simien Mountains National Park, Ethiopia
Authors: Abebe Belayneh , Ashagrie Mezgebu , Eshete Girma
Published: July 2024

Simien Mountains National Park (SMNP) provides valuable ecosystem services. Despite its ecological values, the effect of livestock-free grazing on habitat quality has not been investigated. The present study aimed to examine how livestock grazing within the Simien Mountains National Park affects herbaceous plant diversity and biomass. The study was carried out from February 2019 to July 2019 in livestock-grazed and ungrazed sites. In each grazing site, ten transects with a length of 25 m were set monthly. Along each transect line, five temporary sample plots (1 m2) were established. For aboveground biomass estimation, grass and forbs were clipped from 0.25 m2 in every sample plot, whereas below-ground biomass was estimated from two soil core (diameter = 6.35 cm, depth =20 cm) samples in each transect. Species diversity and evenness were estimated using the Shannon-Wiener diversity and evenness index. A total of 43 plant species belonging to 20 families were identified. Aboveground biomass and below-ground biomass were significantly higher in ungrazed areas than in the grazed ones. Similarly, species diversity and richness were relatively lower in the grazed areas than in ungrazed areas. The study concluded that livestock grazing has affected the habitat by degrading the vegetation diversity and biomass production. Therefore, stakeholders should be encouraged to innovate appropriate grazing management technologies for the local livestock ranchers to support the conservation efforts of the park.