Frontiers in Sociology最新文献

This paper explores the extent to which recognition struggles can be considered as legitimate by looking into both their ends and means. It probes into the conditions why such political resistance is waged and whether or not violence is warranted as a necessary means to achieve legitimate political objectives. The paper argues that to make struggles for recognition legitimate, they should be motivated by a just cause such as experiences of oppression as is the case of misrecognition. To prevent accusations that such experiences of injustice are subjective, they have to pass the test of the publicity criterion. Meanwhile, although recognition struggles can become violent particularly in the context of political resistance, they need not be. Violence can be resorted to as a last resort but it has to be regulated by the principle of proportionality, meaning, the use of violence does not lead to more injustices. In the final analysis, violence has to be kept at the minimum because what defines a social protest or political resistance is not the use of violence but restraint and control.

This study investigates income rank (mis)perceptions in Italy, focusing on the discrepancy between individuals' subjective assessments of their income position and their objectively measured positions in national and global income distribution. The research utilizes data from a large-scale national survey Inequality between reality and perception (IneqPer, n = 12,000; 2024/2025). It provides consistent evidence of the pervasive central tendency bias, when individuals place themselves near to the median of income distribution regardless of their objective income rank. The findings also reveal systematic patterns of misperceptions. Lower-resource individuals tend to overestimate their income rank, while higher-resource individuals often underestimate it. Misperceptions vary significantly by gender, age, employment status, education, migration background, the type of settlement, and regional economic conditions: young, unemployed, and immigrants are more prone to overestimate their rank in income distribution, while men, older, employed, those from urban areas and more educated individuals are more likely to underestimate it. Political orientation shows no associations with misperceptions of national income rank, but left-oriented respondents are more accurate with respect to global ranks, whereas all other respondents underestimate their global rank. Regionally, residents of less affluent Southern areas tend to overestimate their income rank, whereas those in wealthier Northern regions often underestimate it. The study is one of the first that analyses both national and global income rank perceptions. The results show that central tendency bias emerges consistently across different contexts, suggesting that income distributions are broadly perceived as abstract. These insights have implications for public policy, economic behavior, and interventions addressing inequality in Italy and in the world.

Introduction: Female traditional initiation rites are deeply entrenched in the cultural fabric of many societies, representing profound rites of passage marking the transition from girlhood to womanhood. These ceremonies have important psychological, cultural, and social significance for the initiates and their communities. Referred to as "koma ya basadi" among Ba-Kopa, these rites encompass a series of rituals, teachings, and ceremonies designed to prepare young girls for the roles and responsibilities they will assume as adult women within their communities. Despite the documented significance of these rites, they remain misunderstood, and their psychological significance remains under-researched. This study aimed to explore the psychological importance of traditional female initiations among the Bakopa women of the Sekhukhune district of Limpopo Province.

Methods: Purposive sampling was used to select 16 women from the Ba-Kopa community who had undergone koma ya basadi for in-depth individual interviews. These interviews were complemented by two group discussions: one focus group with six participants and one dyadic discussion with two participants. The group discussions were conducted in two separate villages approximately 20 km apart, to capture localized perspectives within the community. All data were analyzed using ATLAS.ti software, which facilitated systematic coding and thematic analysis.

Results: The findings revealed that the initiation rites play a crucial role in maturing initiates, contributing to their identity formation and instilling qualities such as perseverance and tolerance.

Discussion: The study underlines the importance of preserving and respecting cultural practices like traditional female initiation. It highlights the need for further research to understand their implications for individual and community wellbeing. These findings have significant implications for policymakers, healthcare providers, and community leaders in promoting cultural sensitivity and supporting the holistic development of young women.

This paper examines the role and rights of women through Islamic lens, tackling modern issues that obstruct gender parity. It highlights the historical progress and governance of women in the Islamic context, drawing attention to the differences in interpretations and practices across various cultures and nations. The research seeks to demonstrate that Islam does not oppress women but instead grants them rights bestowed by Allah, challenging baseless claims against the faith. The study identifies and scrutinizes the barriers women encounter in obtaining equal educational opportunities, influenced by a complex interaction of social norms, conservative religious views, and systemic hurdles. It also explores the effects of religious texts and traditions on gender equality, acknowledging the role of feminist movements in advancing women's rights within Muslim communities. Furthermore, the article emphasizes the ongoing conversations about women's rights in Islam, illustrating the dynamism of Islamic jurisprudence and its ability to adapt to changing social circumstances. It stresses the necessity for critical evaluations of conventional interpretations, advocating for a reassessment that prioritizes gender equity and justice within Islamic teachings. Ultimately, the research reveals the complex and layered nature of women's rights in the Islamic world, highlighting the significance of harmonizing universal human rights principles with cultural norms to empower women and uphold their inherent rights.

Introduction: Professionalizing the long-term care workforce, defined as improving the quality of care jobs, has been proposed as part of a solution to workforce challenges in long-term care. However, professionalization is argued to be in tension with personalization, a policy at the center of English long-term care. This article explores tensions and complementarities between the two policies through a workforce lens.

Methods: We conducted qualitative group (n = 2) and one-to-one interviews (n = 7) with long-term care stakeholders (n = 25) representing a wide range of organizations in England. We have adopted the method of thematic analysis to explore stakeholders' views on the relationship between the professionalization of the hands-on care workforce and the personalization of care and support services.

Results: We have identified three points of intersection between professionalization and personalization in stakeholders' narratives: care workers' autonomy, training and registration. Autonomy is defined here as care workers' discretion to make practical decisions in a care situation without the immediate approval of a manager or care professional. We have found that narratives reflected a complex relationship between the two policies. Stakeholders viewed care workers' autonomy and training as directly supporting the goals of personalization but they perceived personal assistants' formal training and registration as being in tension with personalization.

Discussion: Care workers' practical autonomy emerged from our analysis of stakeholder narratives as a key aspect of improving care jobs (professionalization). This supports research findings that a higher degree of autonomy improves job satisfaction and it is a source of dignity in an undervalued occupation. Yet, autonomy is not explicitly included in definitions of professionalization in the context of English long-term care. This article contributes to the literature by conceptualizing care workers' autonomy as a dimension of professionalization, along with pay, terms and conditions of employment, training and registration. Secondly, the results contribute to the literature and to policy debates about the relationship between professionalization and personalization, two mechanisms of reforming long-term care systems globally. Our results demonstrate that there is a complex relationship between the two policy areas, characterized by synergies and tensions.

This sociological study examines how cultural capital and institutional structures shape digital behaviors among 606 Chinese high school students using stratified sampling across school types (provincial/municipal/regular) and income groups. Applying Bourdieu's capital theory within an Affect-Behavior-Cognition framework, we reveal entrenched stratification: students from high-income households (≥310,000 CNY) demonstrate significantly stronger cultural identity (ΔM = 0.15, F = 2.533, p = 0.048) and social interaction (ΔM = 0.24, F = 3.767, p = 0.005) compared to low-income peers, while municipal key school students exhibit 12% higher social interaction engagement than regular school counterparts (F = 2.694, p = 0.031). Parental occupation further mediates cultural capital conversion, with executives' children showing higher cultural identity (ΔM = 0.23 vs. service workers, p = 0.018). Crucially, emotion (β = 0.939, p < 0.001) serves as the mechanism that translates cognitive resources (entertainment β = 0.210, resources β = 0.210) into behavioral capital, yet this mediation pathway is disproportionately accessible to economically advantaged youth. Residential location showed no significant effects, indicating Bilibili's uniform penetration but stratified usage patterns. These findings demonstrate how educational systems and familial capital jointly reproduce digital inequalities, with emotion serving as an overlooked conduit for converting cognitive advantages into behavioral capital. The study advances Bourdieusian theory in platform societies and proposes interventions for democratizing digital habitus through equitable content algorithms and school-based digital literacy programs.

Introduction: Gray literature on gender-based violence (GBV) in universities shows that female students are the most vulnerable group. In our context, this study examines the forms of GBV and the profiles of perpetrators at Daniel Ouezzin Coulibaly University.

Methods: A mixed-methods approach was adopted. The questionnaire survey involved 300 students, and interview guides were administered to 23 participants (students, lecturers, and administrative staff).

Results: Findings indicate that 92.7% of students are familiar with the concept of GBV. Among female students, 45.86% report physical violence, 44.17% psychological or emotional abuse, and 9.97% cultural violence. Sexual harassment through inappropriate touching is a major concern, affecting 30% of respondents. Perpetrators include students (38.46%), lecturers (27.44%), administrative staff (26.92%), and classmates (7.18%).

Discussion/conclusion: These results highlight the high prevalence of GBV in higher education institutions and the urgent need for targeted interventions, including institutional policies, improved infrastructure, and tailored prevention programmes.

Introduction: Workplace mobbing and work-family conflict represent two significant risk factors for mental health in the general adult population. In an increasingly demanding work context, these issues affect workers' psychological well-being, impacting their productivity and quality of life.

Objective: To analyze the relationship between workplace mobbing, work-family conflict, and mental health in Peruvian adults employed in both the public and private sectors.

Materials and methods: A total of 345 adults participated, with a mean age of 33 years (SD = 9.4). A sociodemographic questionnaire and psychological instruments were applied. An unregularized network modeling and sex-based comparison were conducted.

Results: The nodes with the highest centrality and predictability values were depressive symptoms, generalized anxiety, work-family conflict, and family-work conflict. The strongest associations were found between work-family conflict and generalized anxiety, sleep quality, and family-work conflict; between depressive symptoms and generalized anxiety and sleep quality; and between workplace mobbing, family-work conflict, and depressive symptoms. No sex differences were observed.

Conclusion: The patterns of association that reflect how these factors coexist within the psychosocial environment of workers. Consequently, it is recommended that organizations implement network structure provides relevant information about the relationships between workplace mobbing, work-family conflict, and mental health. The findings highlight policies that address these associated dynamics, promote work-family balance, and offer psychological support to strengthen overall well-being in the workplace.

Indonesia is a majority Muslim country with a significant influence of religion in public and private life. Islam, alongside the five others officially recognized religions, serves as a crucial moral foundation within the country's diverse cultural and governmental frameworks. However, the role of religion has been subject to debate over the years up to the recent politico-religious polarization observed during the last three presidential elections (2014, 2019, and 2024). Drawing from contemporary secularization theory, this study aims to explore the continuity and change in the societal role of religion in Indonesia over the past two decades. It tests the potential decline of religiosity among the populace amidst the continuing strong state's regulation on religion in the country. The study collects and analyzes secondary data from Badan Pusat Statistik (BPS or the Office of Indonesian National Statistics) and the World Values Survey to investigate continuities and shifts in religious adherence and affiliation, levels of socio-religious participation, and individual religiosity-including belief in God and frequency of daily or weekly prayer. The findings indicate that religious adherence and affiliation remain relatively high, coupled with a decent level of socio-religious participation. However, there is a decline in personal religious belief among the population. The contradiction between those three forms of religiosity-affiliation, participation and belief-might suggest an early stage of long-term secularization. In the last two decades, religion is often viewed as a formal identity marker in Indonesian public life, with more nuanced correlation to individuals' personal religious beliefs and practices.

Recent discourse around decolonial praxis has given rise to an urgency to look again at African indigenous cultures, including Yoruba. Sadly, from the late 1600s [Ogilby's Africa (1670)] to the 1900s, Yoruba culture was described through an outsider, ethnographic, colonial lens as primitive, ungodly, and uncivilised. Furthermore, from the early 1900s to date, due to colonialism, the Yoruba language, classed as vernacular, was prohibited from being spoken at schools in Nigeria (Oluwole, 2016). The late Dr. Geraldine Connor (1952-2011) demonstrated decolonial praxis, expanding on Homi Bhabha's (1990) 'third space' and fostering a unique creative space where cultures, including Yoruba, freely mingled and equilibrated into her PhD creative output, Carnival Messiah. Theory can be bridged into Afropolitan praxis via a Practice as Research (PaR) methodology, a non-hierarchical, multimodal design that layers multiple qualitative research methods, including what the author calls 'decolonial autoethnography'. Yoruba scholars and writers such as Nike Lawal, Sophie Oluwole, Rowland Abiodun, and Babatunde Lawal advocate that one needs to let the Yoruba voice speak as a process of decolonising one's own mind. The aim in this decolonial praxis is to dispel negative narratives about Yoruba culture, curb anxiety about partaking in it, and experience it through the spectrum of Yoruba philosophy, in its multifaceted whole as movement, sound, sculpture, and more. Decolonial praxis, in this case, looks like observing Yoruba culture in situ through (vis-à-vis knowing-in-action) art practice as a process of conceptual enquiry. The main outcome of the author's PhD project was the retrieval and resurrection of Yoruba art aesthetics, including visual representation (Aworan) and sound (Oriki). This culminated in the author's creation of the first sculpture of a black woman in Leeds: the life-size ultramarine-blue Aworan statue of Dr. Geraldine Roxanne Connor.