hone Use, Offline Neglect, and Reachability: A Qualitative Study in Denmark, Lithuania, and Spain

hone Use, Offline Neglect, and Reachability: A Qualitative Study in Denmark, Lithuania, and Spain

Author(s): Theresa S. S. Schilhab,Gertrud Esbensen,Valeria Levratto,Andrius Šuminas / Language(s): English / Issue: 2/2023

Keywords: smart technology; offline neglect; occasional phubber; distractions; joint attention; self-control; reachability

The use of smart technology (ST) has dramatically increased in recent years, with smartphones and tablets affording use in all locations and for innumerable purposes. Consequently, we relate differently to our surroundings – a condition we refer to as 'offline neglect'. This paper reports the results of a qualitative, small-scale project investigating how informants from three European capital cities, Vilnius, Lithuania, Madrid, Spain, and Copenhagen, Denmark, perceive the changes associated with ST-induced offline neglect in the daily navigation of their physical and social environments. Our informants were generally quite verbose about the unwanted side effects of excessive phone use, especially on social relations. Nevertheless, most informants reported experiencing trouble with limiting their ST use although they did point to avoidance strategies. Based on our data, we introduce and discuss the concept of 'reachability' as crucial to understanding the effects of ST use on the social environment.

A Syntactic Account for Zero Denominal and Deverbal Verbs in Wolof

A Syntactic Account for Zero Denominal and Deverbal Verbs in Wolof

Author(s): Mamarame Seck / Language(s): English / Issue: 35/2023

Keywords: Wolof; denominal; deverbal;

Denominal verbs are verbs formed from nouns by means of various word-formation processes. A deverbal is a word (usually a noun or an adjective) that is derived from a verb. This article aims to investigate denominals and deverbals in Wolof. Wolof denominals are formed without adding a new morpheme. This phenomenon, like what found in English, is known as zero denominal e.g., suukër meew mi “to sugar the milk.’ As for Wolof deverbals, they are formed by adding a new morpheme, -al, to the root verb or adjectival verbs., e.g., weexal miir bi ‘to whiten the wall’. To account for these phenomena, I use Clark and Clark (1979), Embick (1997), and Miller (2006) models. This article will contribute to the knowledge about Wolof grammar, particularly, the morphology and syntax of denominals and deverbals in the Wolof language.

Double Fragility: The Care Crisis in the Time of the Pandemic

Double Fragility: The Care Crisis in the Time of the Pandemic

Author(s): Alexandra Scheele,Helene Schiffbänker,David Walker,Greta Wienkamp / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: care-work; health-care sector; crisis of social reproduction; Corona/COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic exposed and reinforced the structural crisis in paid and unpaid care work. On the one hand, pandemic-related closures of schools and childcare facilities increased the fragility of unpaid care arrangements, which are mainly organised by women. On the other hand, high infection and hospitalisation rates exacerbated the difficult working conditions in health-care professions, ranging from low wages and long working hours to high levels of mental and physical stress. Drawing on interviews conducted in an ongoing project in the German and Austrian health-care sector, this article investigates, from a gender perspective, how employees in health-care professions, who are at the very centre of both the unpaid and paid care crises, experienced this precarious situation during the pandemic. We suggest that the female-dominated sectors of paid and unpaid care work experienced further devaluation during the COVID-19 pandemic, while attempts to valorise their work were rather short-lived. We further argue that the structural crisis in paid care work is threatening the functionality of the health-care sector.

It Takes Two to Be Equal? Middle-Class Men Managing Care and Work during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Poland

It Takes Two to Be Equal? Middle-Class Men Managing Care and Work during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Poland

Author(s): Ewelina Ciaputa,Marta Warat,Ewa Krzaklewska / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: fatherhood; caring (masculinities); organisation; COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has posed challenges to the organisation of work and practices of care. Lockdown, the introduction of remote working in many sectors, home-schooling, and social isolation required the adoption of new strategies and solutions, resulting in the increased involvement of mothers in caring activities and the reinforcement of the cultural normativity of family. Yet some studies suggest that the share of fathers in childcare has also increased. Based on semi-structured qualitative interviews conducted as part of the ‘Men in Care’ (MiC) project with men working in international corporations (17) and their partners (7), we consider how the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland impacted men’s approach to care and parental roles. We draw on the experiences of male employees and their partners to show how the ‘interweaving’ of care and work has influenced the involvement of fathers and the division of care between partners. We examine whether the post-outbreak months, when care duties suddenly became delegated almost exclusively to parents, triggered reflections in relation to caring masculinities and challenged existing gender relations. We identified three types of fathers in our sample: task-oriented fathers, supportive fathers, and engaged fathers.

What to Expect When Expecting? Experiences of Pregnant Women in Serbia during the COVID-19 Pandemic and State of Emergency

What to Expect When Expecting? Experiences of Pregnant Women in Serbia during the COVID-19 Pandemic and State of Emergency

Author(s): Ana Lj. Bilinović Rajačić,Jovana M. Čikić / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; state of emergency; pregnancy

The aim of this paper is to shed light on the experiences of non-infected pregnant women in Serbia during the COVID-19 pandemic and the state of emergency by applying a qualitative research method. The present analysis examines four aspects of being pregnant during the COVID-19 pandemic and the state of emergency: (a) pregnant women’s health and health care; (b) preparation for childbirth and the arrival of a new family member; (c) working while pregnant during the pandemic; and (d) the family atmosphere and family practices. The results show that the coronavirus pandemic affected pregnant women both psychologically and socially. The following conditions had a negative impact on pregnant women: (a) worrying about both their own health and the health of their baby; (b) a significant reduction in the level and quality of health-care support; (c) a decrease in ‘external’ parental support as a result of the need to socially isolate; (d) difficulties in managing their professional and family obligations; (e) missing their regular pre-pandemic activities; and (f) a decrease in total family income as a result of changes to employment conditions during the pandemic. Respondents who experienced pregnancy positively had high levels of marital adjustment and a stable family income and enjoyed spending more time with their husband and children during the pandemic.

The COVID-19 Pandemic and Gender+ Inequalities in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia: The Heteronormativity of Anti- Pandemic Measures and Their Impact on Vulnerable Groups

The COVID-19 Pandemic and Gender+ Inequalities in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia: The Heteronormativity of Anti- Pandemic Measures and Their Impact on Vulnerable Groups

Author(s): Vanda Černohorská,Zuzana OČENÁŠOVÁ,Ágnes Kende / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic; heteronormative discourse; anti-gender campaigns; V4; gender+ inequalities

Various research studies suggest that women and other vulnerable groups are the ones who were impacted most and who continue to suffer from the economic and social effects of the pandemic. However, these groups have often been omitted from the measures mitigating the pandemic impact due to their invisibility in the policy-knowledge nexus. This article draws on the findings from the international RESISTIRÉ research project, which focuses on how COVID-19 policies impacted gendered inequalities in Europe. Building on feminist institutionalism and an intersectional approach, we contribute to the debate on how existent gender regimes have shaped anti-pandemic policies in the Czech Republic, Hungary, and Slovakia. While examining policy responses, we identified two main meta-frames that are present across the countries in our analysis and that increased gender+ inequalities: the neoliberal model of active citizens that ties the redistribution of aid to labour market activity and the heteronormative family narrative. This narrative has led to those who do not fit within its framework being ignored in policies and to attacks on those groups in an effort to reinforce the narrative’s hegemony. The impact of these frames was further amplified by practices of non-inclusive decision-making (in all three countries), where gender expertise was excluded as politicised and biased.

Interviews with Men Convicted of Rape: Reflections and Lessons of a Female Researcher in a Male Delhi Prison

Interviews with Men Convicted of Rape: Reflections and Lessons of a Female Researcher in a Male Delhi Prison

Author(s): Madhumita Pandey / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: India; offenders; interviews; qualitative research; prison; gender; reflection

Research involving prisoners is a vital source of information on crime but is often fraught with several challenges. This article presents an analysis of one of the first prison researches conducted in India with men convicted of rape. It examines and expands on the nuances of interacting with men convicted of rape and exploring a range of deeply personal questions with them. The research analysis attempts to highlight the impact of the researcher’s positionality on offender accounts by also discussing social proximity and gender. This article contributes to the broader discourse around conducting qualitative research in prisons.

Pills, Power and Performativity: Negotiating Masculinity in the Emergence of Male Contraceptive Technology

Pills, Power and Performativity: Negotiating Masculinity in the Emergence of Male Contraceptive Technology

Author(s): Eleonore Lorijn / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: Contraceptive technology; masculine identities; gender performativity

As we prepare for a new contraceptive revolution centering the male reproductive body, little is known about 21st century men’s interest in pursuing hormonal technology. This paper sets out to understand what male hormonal contraception (MHC) means for the performance of masculinity. Specifically, I seek to understand how contraceptive technology might contribute to the emergence and transformation of different masculine identities, and whether these identities will function to enhance or denounce the technology’s cultural feasibility and widespread assimilation. Amid the heavily quantitative nature of literature on this topic, I conduct semi-structured interviews to form a more intimate understanding of this relationship. Through thematic analysis, this project reveals a typology of three analytic figures which surface in response to the future existence of MHC: the ‘responsible, caring man’, the ‘lazy man’, and the ‘independent, heterosexual man’. The ways in which these identities conflict, complement, and interact with each other indicate how masculinities are being negotiated upon a shifting contraceptive landscape. The conclusions derived from my analyses are twofold: Firstly, that the cultural feasibility of MHC in western contexts will simultaneously demand and induce a destabilisation of conventionalised gender performances. Secondly, that the masculinities which emerge from this new frontier of contraception are complex, multiple and fluid. The investigation ends by looking at the wider implications of my findings for policy and practice.

Food Systems and Food Producers during COVID-19: Gendered Patterns and Local-Global Structures

Food Systems and Food Producers during COVID-19: Gendered Patterns and Local-Global Structures

Author(s): Haldis Haukanes / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: food systems; food producers; Covid-19; review

Book Review: Castellanos, Paige, ed., Sachs, Carolyn E., ed. a Tickamyer, Ann R., ed. Gender, food and COVID-19: global stories of harm and hope. First published. London: Routledge, 2022. 156 stran. Routledge focus on environment and sustainability. ISBN 978-1-032-05598-5.

Gendering Epistemologies – Gender and Situated Knowledge: Perspectives from Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe

Gendering Epistemologies – Gender and Situated Knowledge: Perspectives from Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe

Author(s): Eva Svatoňová / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: gender; Europe

Thirty-five years ago, Donna Haraway, a prominent American scholar in science and technology studies and ecofeminism, coined the term ‘situated knowledges’, which has since become a classic reference in feminist debates. Acknowledging that knowledge production is bound to a specific point in time and space, scholars have been using Haraway’s notion to reflect on their positionality in the process of creating scientific knowledge. This now iconic concept was a central theme at the international conference ‘Gendering Epistemologies – Gender Situated Knowledge Perspectives from Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe’, organised by the research initiative Political Epistemologies of Central and Eastern Europe (PECEE) and held on 13–15 October 2022 in Liblice (Czechia).

Translating Research Findings into Operational Tools in the Context of a Crisis: the RESISTIRÉ Approach

Translating Research Findings into Operational Tools in the Context of a Crisis: the RESISTIRÉ Approach

Author(s): Agnieszka Kolasińska / Language(s): English / Issue: 1/2023

Keywords: RESISTIRE; research; social sciences; methods;

The relationship between research and its potential to create real-world impact is an important topic within the social sciences and first and foremost in the debate concerning the ‘action-research’ approach. In recent years, this debate has also been enriched by reflections arising from the world of design, integrating approaches aimed at the construction of artefacts and services with traditional sociological research methods. In this report, we will present an example of this kind of interaction adopted within the framework of the RESISTIRÉ1 project.

FEMALE DONATION AND REPRESENTATION IN SERBIAN MEDIEVAL VISUAL CULTURE: QUEEN AND EMPRESS JELENA (C. 1330 – 1376)

FEMALE DONATION AND REPRESENTATION IN SERBIAN MEDIEVAL VISUAL CULTURE: QUEEN AND EMPRESS JELENA (C. 1330 – 1376)

Author(s): Svetlana Smolčić Makuljević / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2023

Keywords: female donation; representation; visual culture; medieval Serbia; Queen and Empress Jelena;

Female donation and representation are an important part of Serbian medieval visual culture. This paper explores the donation and representation of queen and empress Jelena in Serbian visual culture. It points to the mechanisms of presence and visibility of Jelena in the life of medieval Serbia by way of her participation in political matters of the state, her participation in the creation of visual culture, donations she made as a female ruler along with her husband, her visual portraits in monumental fresco painting, as well as her erection of endowments during Emperor Dušan’s lifetime.

COMPTES RENDUS: MONTANA IN ANTIQUITY AND MODERNITY SCHOLARLY STUDIES ON THE HISTORY OF THE CITY OF MONTANA

COMPTES RENDUS: MONTANA IN ANTIQUITY AND MODERNITY SCHOLARLY STUDIES ON THE HISTORY OF THE CITY OF MONTANA

Author(s): Liudmila Mindova / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2023

WHITHER THE BALKAN REVOLUTIONS?

WHITHER THE BALKAN REVOLUTIONS?

Author(s): Simeon Simeonov / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2023

ON RUSSOPHILISM AND RUSSOPHOBIA IN THE BALKANS

ON RUSSOPHILISM AND RUSSOPHOBIA IN THE BALKANS

Author(s): Zorka Parvanova / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2023

THE BALKANS THROUGH THE EYES OF A LATIN AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY

THE BALKANS THROUGH THE EYES OF A LATIN AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY

Author(s): Zorka Parvanova / Language(s): English / Issue: 3/2023

The Dialects of Panslavic, Serbocroatian, and Croatian: Linguistic Taxonomies in Zagreb, 1836–1997

The Dialects of Panslavic, Serbocroatian, and Croatian: Linguistic Taxonomies in Zagreb, 1836–1997

Author(s): Alexander Maxwell / Language(s): English / Issue: 01/2023

Keywords: Linguistic nationalism; national awakening; dialects, Panslavism; Serbo-Croat; Croatian; Zagreb

If linguistic nationalism presupposes a homogenous national language, then “dialect” taxonomies become interesting objects of study. This article examines three instances of linguistic nationalism published in Zagreb. The three texts, published in 1836, 1919, and 1995, come from (1) Ljudevit Gaj and Jan Kollár, (2) Dragutin Prohaska, and (3) Miro Kačić. The different texts propound three quite different taxonomies of “dialects” within the imagined national language. Changing strategies of dialect classification imply different understandings of the national language, reflecting in turn changing political circumstances. The Panslavism of 1836 gave way in 1919 to interwar Yugoslavism, or alternatively Serbo-Croatism, which in 1995 then gave way to Croatian particularist nationalism. The article ends with speculations about future linguistic taxonomies.

Between Spanish Language and Multilingualism in Spain: The Radical Right Placement

Between Spanish Language and Multilingualism in Spain: The Radical Right Placement

Author(s): Daniel Pinto Pajares / Language(s): English / Issue: 01/2023

Keywords: Spanish language; linguistic nationalism; language ideologies; minoritized languages; language politics;

Since its irruption in Spanish public institutions in 2018, a new right-wing political party, Vox, has challenged the electoral spectrum of other parties under a nationalist form. This work justifies the classification of Vox within the so-called radical right based on the components of the party’s nativist and authoritarian positions. These premises are deployed in discourses on the Spanish language as the only linguistic axis capable of structuring the nation. Although similar arguments can be found in other right-wing, center-right, or center-left political parties in Spain, Vox explicitly shows its placement. Language policy in Spain fluctuates around two positions related to the legal nature of the official languages. On the one hand, Spanish is the official language of the State and is widely known by the population; on the other hand, linguistic officiality is shared with other languages in several regions. This legal and social situation implies that measures for the protection and promotion of regional languages are perceived as an attack on the vitality of Spanish. We propose an analysis of Vox’s discourse through three channels: first, the organic party documents, as the statutes or the electoral program; second, institutional and journalistic interventions of members with social significance; and third, the publications on Twitter of six relevant components of the party. This material reveals an attack on the linguistic policies of bilingual territories under the premise of Spanish as the common language that balances all citizens. Far from assuming a mere conjunction of particular political phenomena, Vox’s discourse articulates social loyalties, with a direct impact on the coexistence of people from different territories and speakers of different languages. Our purpose is, therefore, to unravel the ideological orientation and tone with which Vox transmits its discourse regarding the social relationship of minoritized languages in Spain with the most widespread language, Spanish.

Nations Beyond Interests. Emotional and Cognitive Motives in the Development of National Identities

Nations Beyond Interests. Emotional and Cognitive Motives in the Development of National Identities

Author(s): István Kollai / Language(s): English / Issue: 01/2023

Keywords: nationalism; national interest; separatism; emotions; historicism;

In mainstream academic discourse, the emergence of national identities has mostly been explained from a powerful modernist approach, claiming that nations, as we know them today, are modern and constructed phenomena. This implies that the spotlight of research has been on interest-based homogenization motives and how they can create mass loyalty as an efficient sociocultural basis for political elites and capitalist markets. Nevertheless, attention might be slightly diverted from the possible emotional and cognitive motives of national identities. According to the conceptualization in this paper, interest- based motives can be paired with these emotional and intellectual motives, together constituting a generally relevant tripartite concept of national self-identification, where emotionality can be revealed through the “irrational” separatist feature of modern nationalisms, while cognitive motives are embodied in the expectations towards nations to offer intellectually defendable meaningful explanations about a collective origin and “our” place within the world. Without questioning the significance of means-end rationality behind the national homogenization processes, all of this points to a rather interrelated entanglement of motives where the development of the attitude of “belonging to a nation” is fueled not solely by interest, but emotional (“separatist”) motives and cognitive-intellectual (“historizing”) motives alike. As a result, we can establish a conceptual framework, not stressing the primacy of any of these motives within nationalisms, but instead focusing on the possible ways in which interest-based need for homogenization can collude with the emotional need of cultural boundary-making (separatism) as well as with the intellectual need for coherent explanations of state of affairs (historicism).

Language Policy in Kazakhstan in the Context of World Practice

Language Policy in Kazakhstan in the Context of World Practice

Author(s): Galina Yedgina,Dzhambul Dzhumabekov,Lyudmila Zuyeva,Bibigu Dosova,Valeriya Kozina / Language(s): English / Issue: 01/2023

Keywords: ethnic policy; language policy; postcolonial countries; Kazakhstan; linguistic minorities;

The problem of language policy formation arises from combined efforts to achieve the long- term goals of civil peace and avoid ethnic conflicts. Globalization poses a range of challenges to society, such as migration and multiculturalism. However, the language situation in postcolonial developing countries is more complex than in developed ones. This paper analyzes the history of language policy in Kazakhstan by comparing the experiences of other post- Soviet countries and developed countries in Europe and North America. The study relies on comparative historical and conceptual analysis of language policies and population censuses. The paper also explores different approaches to language policy formation from influential researchers to highlight the most significant factors behind a successful language policy. The primary goal of language policy in Kazakhstan is to overcome the dominance of the Russian language without violating the rights and freedoms of ethnic groups. The country’s strategy involves promoting bilingualism to introduce the Kazakh language into all spheres of public life step by step. The results of the study may help other developing countries to shape their national language policies. They may also find applications in political science, futurology, and political forecasting.