Suchergebnisse

The thematic focus of this issue of Postmodernism Problems is the dynamics and transformations in the quality of life of social communities in Bulgaria and Romania. The publications in it are the result of the implementation of a joint research project under the inter-academic cooperation between the Bulgarian and Romanian Academies, and more specifically between the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology at the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and the Research Institute for Quality of Life at the Romanian Academy on the topic: "Transformations in the quality of life of social communities in the conditions of globalization: challenges and perspectives (2022 – 2023)". The concept of quality of life has a very high heuristic potential as it affects a wide range of contexts, including social development, politics, employment, and international relations. In this issue of Postmodernism Problems, we tried to present some specificities of Bulgaria and Romania in terms of the state, dynamics, and perspectives of the quality of life in both countries in the aspect of its various objective and subjective indicators. The results show that there are many similarities between the two countries, both historically and culturally, and in the most recent developments of Bulgaria and Romania after 2007 in relation to EU membership. This familiar context has repercussions on social processes related to changes in the quality of life of local communities. The study of transformations in the quality of life of different social communities in the two neighboring countries enriches the research field on the topic and allows for an analysis of what is happening in two related national contexts in the conditions of globalization.

Purpose
The paper aims to reflect on the function(s) served by the network of Argentine universities for environmental management and social inclusion (UAGAIS), including sharing information, empowering its members and fostering political action. To these functions, the authors add that networks play a prominent role in promoting culturally and locally meaningful representations of sustainability, and as rhetorical devices for positioning universities within the national, regional and international context.


Design/methodology/approach
Drawing upon a constructionist and cultural approach, two analyses were conducted: the first an analysis of the institutional webpages of selected UAGAIS universities; the second, a discursive analysis of five in-depth interviews conducted with UAGAIS representatives. Both analyses looked at local and cultural specificities of sustainability in higher education, perceptions of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the role of UAGAIS for individuals, universities and other social actors involved.


Findings
Results show how sustainability is used in institutional communication and in the interviews to frame the role of the university in the community. The network serves information and empowering functions, as the same time acting as an amplifier of the activities performed under the "Extensión" framework. Such a culturally situated approach to sustainability is used to engage different social actors and to stress commitment of universities with the environmental and social needs of local communities.


Originality/value
The results underline the role played by networks in transformative process. Anchored to the culturally rooted "Extensión" concept, the examined network serves as a place to advance the social commitment and the local understanding of sustainability. Moreover, it is rhetorically used to challenge the status quo and advocate for systemic change.

Smartphone use, e.g., on social network sites or instant messaging, can impair well-being and is related to clinical phenomena, like depression. Digital detox interventions have been suggested as a solution to reduce negative impacts from smartphone use on outcomes like well-being or social relationships. Digital detox is defined as timeouts from using electronic devices (e.g., smartphones), either completely or for specific subsets of smartphone use. However, until now, it has been unclear whether digital detox interventions are effective at promoting a healthy way of life in the digital era. This systematic literature review aimed to answer the question of whether digital detox interventions are effective at improving outcomes like health and well-being, social relationships, self-control or performance. Systematic searches of seven databases were carried out according to PRISMA guidelines, and intervention studies were extracted that examined timeouts from smartphone use and/or smartphone-related use of social network sites and instant messaging. The review yielded k = 21 extracted studies (total N = 3,625 participants). The studies included interventions in the field, from which 12 were identified as randomized controlled trials. The results showed that the effects from digital detox interventions varied across studies on health and well-being, social relationships, self-control, or performance. For example, some studies found positive intervention effects, whereas others found no effect or even negative consequences for well-being. Reasons for these mixed findings are discussed. Research is needed to examine mechanisms of change to derive implications for the development of successful digital detox interventions.

The circumstances brought about by the pandemic have introduced important changes in our lives, many of them linked to technologies and internet connection time, including education, remote working, personal relationships, access to content and leisure. This situation has given a new value to digital skills and has highlighted the challenges that citizens face in this field, especially certain groups that could be considered as digitally vulnerable. In this context, a team of researchers and professionals from the field of information and communication has proposed a project aimed at the digital inclusion of citizens through training and citizen participation in public libraries. The project for the creation of digital citizenship spaces in public libraries in Spain (e-IRIS) has been designed in accordance with the objectives of the national digital skills plan approved in 2021 by the Spanish government and aims at the digital, educational, cultural and social inclusion of citizens through four types of services in libraries: training; participation and social interaction; social innovation and promotion of digital cultural and artistic creation, and attention to groups at risk of digital exclusion. The purpose of this work is to identify how digital inclusion services contribute to the different goals and targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and to promote the social role of public libraries through the creation of digital citizenship spaces as key agents in digital and social transformation and in the achievement of the 2030 Agenda. Based on the SDG targets identified, a series of learning workshops on e-Health, one of the specific programmes aimed at citizenship training, are proposed.

Abstract This study discusses the changes in political culture caused by the use of social media. The problems captured in this study consist of three dimensions, namely the orientation dimension of the political system, inputs and outputs. The urgency of this study is to show that the use of social media exerts an influence on a passive political culture to be active and participatory. The findings of this study show that political participation becomes the key word for seeing the differences in political culture when it is already influenced by social media. Social media has become a platform where the public can express their concerns, organize themselves and become more active in discussions that are important to them. Online political participation and activism have had a major impact on political policy making. Keywords: Political Culture, Social Media, Political Participation Abstrak Penelitian ini membahas mengenai perubahan budaya politik yang disebabkan oleh penggunaan sosial media. Permasalahan yang di potret pada penelitian ini terdiri dari tiga dimensi, yaitu dimensi orientasi terhadap sistem politik, input dan output. Urgensi dari penelitian ini adalah untuk menunjukkan bahwa penggunaan sosial media memberikan pengaruh terhadap budaya politik yang pasif menjadi aktif dan partisipatif. Temuan penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa partisipasi politik menjadi kata kunci untuk melihat perbedaan budaya politik ketika sudah dipengaruhi oleh sosial media. Media sosial telah menjadi platform dimana publik dapat mengungkapkan keprihatinan mereka, mengatur diri mereka sendiri dan menjadi lebih aktif dalam diskusi yang penting bagi mereka. Partisipasi dan aktivisme politik secara daring telah memberikan dampak besar kepada pembuatan kebijakan politik. Kata kunci: Budaya Politik, Sosial Media, Partisipasi Politik

The bioeconomy can be integral to transforming the current economic system into one with reduced environmental and social impacts of material consumption. This work describes a bio-based multi-layer panel that is based on residual coniferous bark. To ensure that the presented bio-based panel positively contributes to environmental protection while remaining competitive with conventional products and meeting high social standards, the development of the panel is accompanied by a life cycle sustainability assessment. This study performs a comparative LCA and LCC of the developed panel to conventional benchmark panels, as well as a qualitative social life cycle assessment. While the panel performs only economically marginally weaker than the benchmarks, the results are more heterogeneous for the environmental dimension with benefits of the bio-based panel in categories such as climate change, acidification, and ozone formation and detriments in categories including eutrophication. The S-LCA analysis shows that all of the involved companies apply social principles in direct proximity; however, social responsibility along the supply chain could be further promoted. All results need to be viewed with the caveat that the manufacturing processes for the new panel have been implemented, to date, on a pilot scale and further improvements need to be achieved in terms of upscaling and optimisation cycles. ; The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement number 723670, with the title "Systemic approach to reduce energy demand and CO2 emissions of processes that transform agroforestry waste into high added value products (REHAP)".

The Family Hope Program (PKH) is an intervention program with a PKH beneficiaries (KPM) membership period designed for 6 (six) years, taking into account the duration of its membership which can be used to change behaviour in the fields of education, health, and socioeconomic status of the family. However, in its journey that still did not succeed, there were KPM PKH that became KPM PKH more than 6 (six) years of membership. This indicate that there was something wrong with the resertification/graduation process that has not been going well. The government should consider about this issue. This research provides a complete picture of the amount of social assistance funds that continue to be provided by the government to KPM PKH that did not pass within 6 (six) years. Based on data from the Indonesian Ministry of Social Affairs, there were 6.2 million KPM PKH in 2017. If it is assumed that the social assistance funds is given the same amount in the amount of Rp1,890,000 per year, it will incur a cost of Rp11,3T per year. While the number of KPM PKH that have passed was 230,351 from 2007 to 2017, or as much as Rp435M in aid. Even though KPM PKH is only given social assistance funds for 6 (six) years. There is budget allocation efficiency if KPM PKH graduate on time. Once the amount of social assistance can be allocated to other things. For this reason, further research needs to be done on the evaluation and resertification instrument/graduation of KPM PKH in the future. KEYWORDS: PKH, recertification, graduation

One of the key characteristics of recent Japanese grassroots civic activism is the number of individual citizens who began to go out on the streets to participate in public demonstrations. In many places around Japan, people who used to be seen as 'apolitical,' such as youth, office workers (so-called salary-men and salary-women) and other individuals, now join and lead public demonstrations that address a range of pressing social issues and problems, including nuclear energy, workplace harassment and constitutional change. Today the 'progressiveness' of activism is born from, and reinforced by, participants' own everyday concerns. By associating larger social injustices with personalized forms of concern, today's progressive movements enable what perhaps used to be overlooked as private issues to become inspiration for collective actions. Therefore, these civic movements encompass a mixture of different personal and social narratives, symbols, styles and objectives; they are not homogenous about 'who we are' and 'what we want.' By highlighting two case studies that shed light on the Okinawan decolonization movement, I argue that the translocal participation of different social actors in creating a particular sense of 'locality,' or place-based identity, is essential in understanding the complexity of collective representation. The Okinawan decolonization movement, primarily represented in the form of the Okinawan anti-US base struggle, is particularly important because it demonstrates how place-based identity maintains rootedness and boundedness of locality while maintaining inclusivity to extra-locality. Okinawa's case can be an important contribution to the field that enables us to extend our geo-social imagination over the new forms of contentious politics and collectivity in today's world.

У широкому соціальному контексті розглядається проблема формування української юридичної еліти. Поняття «еліта» осмислюється з урахуванням складних політико-правових і соціально-психологічних реалій сучасної України. Пропонується авторське бачення сутності елітарності в царині юриспруденції. Наголошується визначальна роль духовно-психологічного чинника в процесі формування еліти, якої потребує українське суспільство. Перспективи формування української юридичної еліти розглядаються з позицій синергетичної парадигми. В широком социальном контексте рассматривается проблема формирования украинской юридической элиты. Понятие «элита» осмысливается с учетом сложных политико-правовых и социально-психологических реалий современной Украины. Предлагается авторское видение сущности элитарности в сфере юриспруденции. Отмечается определяющая роль духовно-психологического фактора в процессе формирования элиты, в которой нуждается украинское общество. Перспективы формирования украинской юридической элиты рассматриваются с позиций синергетической парадигмы. The article is dedicated to the problem of the formation of legal elite in Ukraine. Successful solution of this problem is an important condition for the positive transformation of the Ukrainian legal system. According to the author such transformation is significantly hampered by declarative nature of the reform activity of the Ukrainian authority and lack of political willingness to make real changes. The purpose of this article is to determine criteria of elitism in the Ukrainian social context. Also, an important goal of the article is search of social sources and mechanism of the formation of new Ukrainian elite. The concept of «elite» is interpreted by author with consideration of main contradictions of social being of Ukrainians. Such contradictions are: 1) deep distrust of the majority of Ukrainians to the government; 2) inability to create elite by pass the social experience as it consists of corruption and other social disease. In the diverse spectrum of the ...

The transition from an industrial to an information society is called a post-industrial or post-traditional period. All transitional periods are characterized by non-compliance, deviations of behaviour, various challenges and the changes of values. These imbalances are highly affected by globalization. Breaking up traditions creates preconditions for new crimes that are related to the latest achievements of science and technology. Globalization takes place in the social sphere and covers the most diverse fields of society's activities. It includes the scope of state and other social structures and their environment. Globalization is intensified by internal communication and other connections around the globe. Law, as a regulator of social life, is influenced by it. Globalization opens up new paths in the development of culture and science. It, however, brings equally difficult challenges. Therefore, many future prospects expected from globalization exclude real risks. In history globalization has manifested itself many times by the creation of empires and social and political systems. Primal forms of globalization can be found in ancient history. Whether it was the more cultural and economical than military invasion of the ancient Greeks to other lands, or the physical and spiritual actions of the Romans that led to collapse of the Roman empire by the barbarians, or the voluntary adoption of Christianity and Buddhism virtually by the whole world – these were all manifestations of globalization. Law as a regulator of social life is directly exposed to the challenges of globalization and must respond to the negative effects of globalization. This article is dedicated to the analysis of such challenges.

The transition from an industrial to an information society is called a post-industrial or post-traditional period. All transitional periods are characterized by non-compliance, deviations of behaviour, various challenges and the changes of values. These imbalances are highly affected by globalization. Breaking up traditions creates preconditions for new crimes that are related to the latest achievements of science and technology. Globalization takes place in the social sphere and covers the most diverse fields of society's activities. It includes the scope of state and other social structures and their environment. Globalization is intensified by internal communication and other connections around the globe. Law, as a regulator of social life, is influenced by it. Globalization opens up new paths in the development of culture and science. It, however, brings equally difficult challenges. Therefore, many future prospects expected from globalization exclude real risks. In history globalization has manifested itself many times by the creation of empires and social and political systems. Primal forms of globalization can be found in ancient history. Whether it was the more cultural and economical than military invasion of the ancient Greeks to other lands, or the physical and spiritual actions of the Romans that led to collapse of the Roman empire by the barbarians, or the voluntary adoption of Christianity and Buddhism virtually by the whole world – these were all manifestations of globalization. Law as a regulator of social life is directly exposed to the challenges of globalization and must respond to the negative effects of globalization. This article is dedicated to the analysis of such challenges.

В статье освещаются некоторые тенденции, характерные для современных мировых экономических процессов. Автор рассматривает их в непосредственной взаимосвязи с изменениями, происходящими в социальной и политической сферах, обращаясь к наиболее актуальным событиям, происходящим в некоторых государствах, введение новых налогов, снижение покупательского спроса, рост социального недовольства и др. Изменения, происходящие в какой-либо отдельно взятой сфере, неизбежно отражаются и на других прямо или косвенно, поэтому любое политическое, экономическое или социальное событие уместно рассматривать с точки зрения междисциплинарного подхода. Ведение нерациональной политики в государстве ударяет по всем сферам его жизнедеятельности, а возникающее неравенство в условиях усиления экономических глобализационных процессов порождает внутригосударственные проблемы, которые неизбежно сказываются на качестве жизни населения, зачастую вызывая недовольство последнего. Это находит отражение и в чрезмерном распространении экономических норм не только на политическую, но и социальную сферу, изначально обладающую иными характеристиками ; This article covers some issues, peculiar to the current world economic phenomena. The author reviews them through the position of their direct interrelation with the changeovers are taking place in the social and political spheres, imposition of the new taxes, the decrease of consumer demand, increasing level of social unrest. The changes, which are taking place in one sphere, inevitable reflect on the other, that is why any political, economic or social event must be considered from the standpoint of the multidisciplinary approach. Unequal standards of developing of the countries in the context of economic global grow-up generate the inner state challenges, which unavoidable affects the population living standards, thereby causing social discontentment. This reflects in the excessive dissemination of economic rules, not only in the political sphere, but also social services, which initially have diverse characteristics.

Founded on SMTs (Social Movement Theories), the current study aimed at analyzing the impact of Arab Spring uprisings on the geopolitical system of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. With an overview on the political and socioeconomic background of Arab Uprisings, the qualitative study focused on: a) determining the economic, political, and social consequences of the uprisings, especially aftermaths that have given rise to the notion of geopolitical instability in the region, and b) investigating the possible factors that will spread geopolitical instability across the MENA region. Given the comprehensiveness and magnitude, the case of the popular uprisings in the MENA region is assessed using qualitative analysis.The study indicates that, Arab Spring failed to bring optimistic changes, empowered political Islamism, spread religious radicalism, reduced state secularism, and led to the emergence of semi-theocratic regimes. It negatively affected public freedoms, minorities, rights of women, and democratization. The uprisings resulted in riots, civil wars, social militarization and neighborhood interference, empowered Iranian hegemony, anarchized petrodollar, created proxy wars, led to the revival of terrorist cells, and affected economies. The Arab Uprisings which sprung with dissatisfaction/deprivation among the masses against their respective regimes, and created conflicts across the MENA region channeled a mass movement on the basis of collective identities and informal networks. The study ultimately concluded that social movements have the potential to escalate to a full-fledged revolution if not tackled in an appropriate manner. This study proves that Arab Uprisings collectively and negatively impacted the political, social, security, interregional, economic, and financial systems of the MENA region.

This work aims to analyze the thinking andaction of Bolivar on proposals and actions ofIndependent "Neogranadinos" between 1810and 1816 that were divided about federalism andcentralism. Bolívar opted for a centralist politicalproposal in the context of war, socialambiguities, the vastness and diversity of theterritory and the international circumstances;parallel, opted for democracy in the socialrealm. This work is performed under a hermeneuticalapproach: various primary sources,such as proclamations, speeches, letters anddecrees elaborated by Bolivar and through theseare reviewed, reconstructed, study explain and interpret continuities and changes in the conceptionof society , politics and the economy inNew Granada between 1815 and 1816 , and waseventually intended to reduce social disparity tostrengthen the social foundations of the people'sarmy and accelerate the freedom process. ; Este trabajo tiene como objeto analizar el pensamientoy la acción de Bolívar sobre las propuestasy las acciones de los independentistasneogranadinos entre 1810 y 1816 que se encontrabandivididas alrededor del federalismo y elcentralismo. Bolívar optó por una propuestacentralista en el orden político del contextode la guerra, en las contradicciones sociales,la gran extensión y diversidad del territorio y lasituación internacional; paralelamente, optópor la democracia en el ámbito social. Este trabajose realiza bajo un enfoque hermenéutico:se estudian diversas fuentes primarias, talescomo proclamas, discursos, cartas y decretos elaborados por Bolívar y a través de estas serevisan, reconstruyen, explican e interpretan lascontinuidades y los cambios de la concepción deél obre la sociedad, la política y la economía enla Nueva Granada entre 1815 y 1816, que finalmenteestuvo encaminada a reducir la desigualdadsocial para fortalecer las bases sociales delejército popular y acelerar el proceso liberador.

Actualmente hay un uso recurrente del Derecho Penal como instrumento estatal para enfrentar conflictos sociales variados. Modificaciones legislativas son hechas sin consideración a su necesidad y eficacia y se busca satisfacer intereses particulares, no la solución de conflictos sociales. Un actor de primer orden, aunque no el único, en el uso excesivo del Derecho Penal está constituido por los políticos, que, en busca de prestigio político con fines electorales, continuamente formulan propuestas de reforma legal que aumentan el campo de acción del Derecho Penal. Este aumento genera consecuencias negativas como sobrecarga de trabajo y un mayor desprestigio a una ya congestionada y bastante desacreditada justicia penal. Esta tendencia, denominada populismo penal, será estudiada en relación con su existencia en Colombia y la delincuencia sexual. ; Nowadays there is an overuse of criminal law as a state mechanism to confront social conflicts of diverse nature. Changes on legislation are being made without taking into account its necessity and efficacy and such reforms mean to satisfy particular interests and not to resolve social conflicts. Politicians are main actors in this growing process, although not the only ones, who in seek of political prestige in order to obtain electoral benefits continuously propose legal modifications that are broadening the social area subject to criminal law. This overuse of criminal law has negative consequences such as more work overload to a currently overburdened system and an increase in the bad reputation of at the present discredited branch of justice. This legislative tendency, named as penal populism, will be studied in regard to its existence in Colombia and sexual delinquency.