 Subjects -> SOCIOLOGY (Total: 553 journals)
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- Representations of Communism among Romanian Teenagers: A Research Note
Abstract: A long time after the 1989 regime change, teenagers’ representations of the communist past are entirely a matter of political socialization. In the absence of any direct experience with the former regime, their perspective on Communism is expected to develop exclusively in relation to school, family, mass media or other agents of socialization. This research note explores the Romanian teenagers’ representations of the communist past based on survey data collected on a sample of 5,861 students enrolled in 86 schools across the entire country in 2010. A form of ‘second-hand’ nostalgia for Communism is identified among many of the teenagers investigated, regarded as an outcome of socialization in relation to family and school. Positive representations of the communist past appear to be facilitated by a lower socio-economic status, lower education, and the absence of travelling abroad experiences.
PubDate: Mon, 26 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMT
- The Role of Confucius Institute in Shaping China’s National Image in
Botswana: Case of CI Students
Abstract: The purpose of this article is to examine the role of Confucius Institute in Shaping China’s National Image in Botswana in the case of CI Students. The Confucius Institute at the University of Botswana (CIUB) is employed as a case study which is identified as the most active Chinese soft power instrument in Botswana. The paper uses a qualitative research method to help better understand the benefits and limitations of CIUB in creating China’s positive image in Botswana. Primary data is obtained from questionnaires whilst secondary data is derived from journal papers, thesis, and books. The study is framed by soft power theory to assist in learning how China utilises its soft power to improve its image in Botswana. The analysis revealed that CIUB has been fruitful in promoting Chinese language and culture in Botswana impacting positively on China’s national image. The findings of the study show that CIUB has the potential to clear some negative perceptions about China in Botswana. However, the limitation as indicated by the study is that CIUB does not have wide coverage of the population of Botswana as it targets mostly students. It is suggested that CIUB as a single tool cannot fully address all the concerns affecting China’s image.
PubDate: Mon, 26 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMT
- Social work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Administrative and personal
response to new challenges
Abstract: The crisis generated by the COVID-19 pandemic implied specific intervention measures in all areas worldwide. Social workers from the social care system and health services, along with other specialists, have played an extremely important role in providing support to vulnerable groups, in order to manage social and psychological issues that have emerged in this period. This paper presents the results of a study involving 94 social workers from Romania. The aim of the research was to identify the main changes in the activity of social workers from public and private social services during pandemic, a period characterized by restrictive measures in order to limit the transmission of the virus. The paper focuses on vulnerabilities and challenges imposed by these changes in order to continue to provide social services for those in need. Recommendations on social policies are outlined based on the lessons learned in this period. The results show that communication and the maintenance of the relationship with beneficiaries are the parts where most changes occurred. The limitation of direct contacts has led to a decrease in field activity, online work, increased workload, or changes in working schedule, and also sometimes (mainly in public institutions) increased bureaucracy. Based on the results of the study, some recommendations for policy makers are identified, taking advantage of the lessons from this period of crisis: the need for the authorities to prioritize the allocated resources and to impose stricter rules to follow, provide funding for specific resources, intensifying the collaboration between all social actors involved, developing and implementing unitary intervention models, greater interest and understanding from authorities and responsiveness to new intervention methods, maintaining the online activity where the situation allows it in order to reduce bureaucracy in public institutions.
PubDate: Fri, 01 Oct 2021 00:00:00 GMT
- A critical analysis of anarchist critiques of the Field of “Solidarity
and Cooperative Economy” in Greece
Abstract: In this article, we explore the critiques developed by the anarchist social movement towards the “Solidarity and Cooperative Economy” in Greece. Initially, we outline the genealogy of the structural connection governing the “solidarity” economy with the development of contemporary social movements worldwide. Then, through the indexing of anarchist publications, we proceed to focus on two main anarchist critiques emphasizing on the economic and political problems of a “solidarity” economy which, in turn lead to the construction of the political position that refutes the interrelation of social movements with the field of alternative economy. We also outline the economic and political theory of classic anarchist thinkers: Kropotkin, Proudhon and Bakunin and we reappraise the critiques of the contemporary Greek anarchist movement based on these thinkers. Ultimately, the paper seeks to detect the points of convergence between the “Solidarity and Cooperative Economy” and contemporary anarchist movement. Deeming the practice of self-management as the principal interface between the anarchist thought and the organisation of networks and communities that constitute the “Solidarity and Cooperative Economy”, the present article calls for reflection and re-evaluation of these critiques with the ultimate objective being the delineation of new areas of political antagonism with capitalist structures and social change.
PubDate: Fri, 01 Oct 2021 00:00:00 GMT
- Predictors of Adolescent Motherhood in Romania
Abstract: The objective of the present study was to explore what demographic and socioeconomic factors were associated with adolescent (younger than 20 years) and adult mothers living in Romania. In total, 274 adolescent and adult mothers were recruited from two maternity wards Romanian maternity wards. The mean age of the sample was 24.64 years (SD = 6.907, range: 13–44 years). Independent samples t-tests, Pearson’s chi square, Cramer’s V, and risk ratios were used to assess differences in continuous and categorical demographics variables between adolescent and adult mothers. This study has shown that maternity among adolescent mothers younger than 20 years has broad sociodemographic determinations, and, consequently, the socio-economic implications could be long-term as well as costly.
PubDate: Wed, 12 May 2021 00:00:00 GMT
- Street Names through Sociological Lenses. Part I: Functionalism and
Conflict Theory
Abstract: Street names are mundane spatial markers that besides providing a sense of orientation inscribe onto the landscape the ideological ethos and political symbols of hegemonic discourses. This review article takes stock of the existing scholarship done on the politics of street naming practices in human (political, cultural, and social) geography and rethinks these insights from sociological perspectives. Drawing on Randall Collins’ taxonomy of sociological theory, the paper interprets urban street nomenclatures along functionalist, conflictualist, constructionist, and utilitarian lines. The analysis is delivered in two installments: Part I addresses urban nomenclatures from functionalist and conflictualist perspectives, while Part II (published in the next issue of this journal) approaches street names as social constructions and examines their utilitarian value. In doing so, the paper advances the argument that urban namescapes in general and street names in particular should make an important object of sociological reflection and empirical analysis. It is one of the key arguments developed in this paper that toponymy encapsulates broader and intersecting issues of power, memory, identity, language, and space which can be rendered visible through sociological analysis.
PubDate: Mon, 01 Mar 2021 00:00:00 GMT
- Food sustainability, healthy eating, on-trend diets: media representations
of nutrition in Romania and Germany
Abstract: The importance of nutrition as a research topic is linked not only to healthy eating and different types of medical conditions, such as obesity, allergies, malnutrition, but also to the relationship between nutrition and physical activity, to state’s and large food companies’ commercial activities, as well as to the sustainability of food production. On that basis, numerous studies have analyzed media content related to food and nutrition, their basic assumption being that (new and old) media have the ability to change the audience’s perceptions, behaviors and attitudes towards various values which are accepted in contemporary societies. This paper presents the results of a comparative study of the way in which Romanian and German media cover the topic of nutrition. The research method used was the content analysis, applied to a sample of articles published on online media from the two countries between 2014 and 2016. Having as research objective the identification of the most relevant aspects regarding the content and shape of nutrition’s coverage in media, this article discusses the similarities and differences recorded in the online press of the two countries on the topic of interest. According to the findings, the similarities are mainly related to some topics and subjects addressed, as well as to the ways of covering them, in particular through analysis articles, while the differences could instead be ascertained regarding the content of the articles, including the ways in which the journalists assume social roles in approaching, informing, debating, and educating concerning issues of public interest.
PubDate: Mon, 01 Mar 2021 00:00:00 GMT
- Recruitment infrastructure within the agricultural and agrifood sector:
Post-Soviet and neocolonial entanglements between “Eastern” and
“Western” Europe
Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic brought into focus how nationstates manage to shut down borders while maintaining flexible labor recruitment. This challenging situation provoked more public discussion around inequalities within the agricultural and agrifood sector. However, reflections around labor conditions have remained limited. I argue that instead of merely pointing to certain aspects of the current labor conditions and demanding more regulations, a different point of departure is urgently needed. Through a genealogical approach to recruitment and rotation, this article aims to further politicize the discussion around the current recruitment infrastructure in the agricultural and agrifood sectors in Europe. I do this with my research on labor migration from Moldova to the European Union and Switzerland, where I consider the hypermobile life trajectories of workers within the agricultural sector. I am interested in the structures, goals and biopolitical implications as well as the involved ideologies that accompany the laws and regulations of the legal framework of such hypermobility between “Eastern” and “Western” Europe. I show how the involved citizenship laws and circular migration policies reveal entanglements through time and space that lead to neocolonial and post-Soviet regimes of labor control within Europe.
PubDate: Mon, 01 Mar 2021 00:00:00 GMT
- Ethno-racialisation at the intersection of food and migration regimes:
Reading processes of farm-labour substitution against the grain of
migration policies in Italy (1980-present)
Abstract: The paper puts the food regime model, as elaborated by scholars such as Harriet Friedmann and Philip McMichael, into articulation with the analysis of migration/border regimes, as proposed by critical migration scholars. If by now it is well established that the policies that regulate the mobility of migrant labour play a crucial role in enabling capitalist accumulation in contemporary global agriculture, few analyses have delved into the actual mechanisms which make this possible, and into their histories. The argument is developed by reference to the Italian case, showing how subsequent waves of substitution of Italian labourers with migrants, that began in the 1980s, have followed different patterns. It argues that these can be understood by reading them against the grain of the changes accruing in the transnational migration regime. Thus, precarisation and segmentation of the labour force in the farming sector are shown to have been actively fostered by policies which have made of undocumented or differentially included labour one of the pillars upon which globally integrated food production has relied for the past three decades. Whilst based on national-scale statistics and secondary literature, the analysis also builds upon a sustained presence and engaged participant research in some of the Italian agroindustrial enclaves that record the highest presence of migrant labour.
PubDate: Mon, 01 Mar 2021 00:00:00 GMT
- Introduction to the Special Issue. Migration, food and agriculture:
Insights into what we eat and how our food is produced at the beginning of
the third millennium
PubDate: Mon, 01 Mar 2021 00:00:00 GMT
- “I wanted to see how to make money there too”: Mobility strategies of
Romanian seasonal workers in the agricultural sector abroad
Abstract: Drawing on interviews with key informants and seasonal workers in Germany, Spain, Italy, Austria and the UK, and on non-participant ethnographies, this paper demonstrates that, despite various limitations associated with work in the agriculture sector, migrants strategically choose the times and destinations of their trips abroad, taking into account a variety of factors, including family commitments, economic goals at the origin, wages and working conditions, health issues and welfare opportunities. The findings illustrate that, depending on their commitments and economic objectives, Romanians who work in agriculture develop different mobility practices. While some work abroad only occasionally, when they need to supplement their home-country income, others engage in circular migration or extend the periods of time they spend abroad. In host countries, most workers try out various jobs and typically get involved in repeated migration once they have found a suitable arrangement. Some workers combine seasonal work in one or more countries of destination, over the course of the same year, with the aim of securing income for longer periods of time, while others opt for long-term migration or move into sectors that offer better opportunities.
PubDate: Mon, 01 Mar 2021 00:00:00 GMT
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