RELIGION AND CONFLICT: THE CASE OF BOSNIA AND HERCEGOVINA

Author(s): Kjell Magnusson / Language(s): English Issue: 42/2024

The text discusses the role of religion in the Bosnian conflict, based on data on attitudes and behaviour in Bosnia and Herzegovina, collected by a survey undertaken in 1999. To what extent did religion – understood as individual religiosity – actually shape people’s attitudes towards the conflict? Are religious people more prone to nationalism and xenophobia than others? Analyses of cross tables were ambiguous; there was no linear effect of religiosity on attitudes to the war or the future of Bosnia. Using structural equation modelling (SEM) it was assumed that religion and nationalism, understood as multidimensional concepts (second-order factor structures), cause xenophobia. It turned out that, while there was a correlation between nationalism and religion, only nationalism, not religion, was directly affecting xenophobia. The basic features of the model, both causal relations and dimensions of religion and nationalism were found among the three major ethnic communities in Bosnia.

САМОВИКТИМИЗУЈУЋИ НАРАТИВ КАО ПРЕПРЕКА МЕЂУРЕЛИГИЈСКОМ ДИЈАЛОГУ У БОСНИ И ХЕРЦЕГОВИНИ

Author(s): Danica Lazović / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 42/2024

Bosnia and Herzegovina, as a post-conflict society, where the constitution guarantees the equality of the three constituent peoples and the three most widespread religions - Islam, Orthodox Christianity and Roman Catholicism, is faced with difficulties in achieving productive and meaningful inter-religious dialogue. Since Bosnia and Herzegovina is a country whose people have three different interpretations of historical events and three opposed conceptions for the future of the common state, its society is characterized by a high degree of polarization. The unacceptably high degree of ethnic distance, present several decades after the end of the conflict, can be partly explained by the phenomenon of self-victimization, abundantly used by all nations, their political leaders and often religious actors. The harmfulness of the self-victimizing discourse is reflected in the impossibility to set aside prejudices and stereotypes towards the religious and ethnic Others and to approach mutual ethnic and religious relations and differences in a rational way that would enable greater functionality and well-being of the society. The expressed tendency towards self-victimizing narrative is to a great extent an obstacle to the inter-religious dialogue, which is essential. The aim of the author is to answer the main research question: “Can the deeply rooted social phenomenon of self-victimization be successfully overcome by strengthening tolerance through inter-religious dialogue?” The research will be based on the main premises of social identity theory. It will implement discourse and content analysis which refers to the statements of political actors on the occasion of the Republika Srpska Day and Bosnia and Herzegovina Independence Day celebrations, as well as to the statements of religious actors that include conceptions of the religious Other.

La memoire polonaise en onomastique roumaine

Author(s): Oliviu Felecan / Language(s): French Issue: 2/2024

The presence of names from an ethnic minority or foreign personalities within a country’s public sphere is indicative of respect and appreciation for that population, as well as for the culture, literature, and scientific contributions made by its members. Employing a socio-onomastic perspective, this study explores the occurrences of Polish names in the Romanian public domain, focusing on cultural, scientific, religious, and military figures, among others. Regardless of their birthplace, field of activity, or specific connection to the Romanian people, Polish figures have enriched the broader cultural landscape and are commemorated throughout Romania. This occurs both in regions with significant ethnic minority populations and in areas with isolated instances. Street names, school names, hospitals, public institutions, companies, and non-governmental organizations invoke Polish anthroponyms and urbanonyms.

Armenian Community in Bulgaria in The Time of COVID-19: Coping With The Challenge

Author(s): Tanya Matanova / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2022

The COVID-19 pandemic influenced and changed the personal and social life of thousands of people. Armenians in Bulgaria as all Bulgarian citizens had to go through the lockdown and restriction time. On a personal level, Armenians stopped visiting relatives and gathering. On an institutional level, Armenians looked for strategies to cope with the challenges of the pandemic situations – cultural organisations had to find ways to arrange events and celebrations, schools – to teach their lessons, restaurant entrepreneurs started to offer food delivery, representatives of Armenian churches searched for new mechanisms of preaching and supporting spiritually the Armenians. Based on fieldwork material gathered during the pandemic period, the paper presents some examples of how Armenians in different Bulgarian towns succeeded (or not) in expressing their ethnic and cultural Armenian identity and living as part of the Armenian diaspora in Bulgaria.

The Effects of The COVID-19 Pandemic on Ethnic Minority Teachers and Students at Lower Secondary Schools in Some Mountainous Provinces in The North of Vietnam

Author(s): Nguyen Thi Minh Thu,Duong Nguyet Van,Tran Thi Nhung / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has turned the lives of people around the globe upside down because of its dangerous nature and speed of spread. The pandemic has forced people to change their outlooks, habits, lifestyles, and working methods to adapt to new contexts. In Vietnam, for the education sector, these strong impacts, on the one hand, created difficulties and challenges; on the other hand, they also created opportunities to adapt to new forms of teaching; and the motivation for teachers and students to have cognitive changes, contributing to the on-going educational innovation process. These effects on teaching in the ethnic minority areas of Vietnam in general and the Northern mountainous provinces of Vietnam, in particular, have become increasingly obvious. In the context of complicated developments of the COVID-19 pandemic, from the research of the teaching situation at the lower secondary level in some mountainous provinces in Northern Vietnam, in this article, the authors will analyse and explain the challenges and adaptations of those working in the education sector in these regions; and draw lessons and practical experiences as a basis for proposing specific and urgent recommendations to deal with the impacts of pandemics and maintain effective teaching for students in these areas.

‘Dirty or Clean – Immoral or Moral’ – Differences in Perception between Two Different Cultures (Finnish Main Population and Roma Minority) – COVID-19 in Finland

Author(s): Kai Viljami Åberg / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2022

COVID-19 shocked and shook the whole world. Hardly anyone could have predicted a similar pandemic. Romani communities in Europe face a much higher risk of death, as their situation, already marked by extreme racism and poverty, has been worsening in the last decade. Many Roma are not covered by social welfare, and the most vulnerable are informal workers and emigrants. Those in the informal economy are not eligible for aid, while current measures prevent them from earning an income (Asenov, 2022: 1129–1153). Thereby Gypsy, Roma, Travellers, Kaale etc. communities are at higher risk of being infected by COVID-19 and at greater risk of severe outcomes as a result of contracting pandemic. Problems in Roma health care are often caused by cultural perceptions, value and norm systems and beliefs (Alexiadou, 2018: 261–283). In Finland, the problems arising from the healthcare practices of the Romani population are often related to both linguistic and wider cultural differences in relation to the main population. In this paper, I will give a few examples of the inside perspective of the Roma in Finland based on my intensive fieldwork since 1994. I will reflect on the reasons and consequences of living in the middle of two cultures, both linguistically, culturally, and socially causing global health and healthcare to crumble. I ask, why and how COVID-19 gets a different linguistic and cultural significance among the Finnish Roma in relation to the majority population.

Between Pending Narratives: Evaluation of COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories by University Students in Turkey

Author(s): Mehmet Ali Üzelgün,Rahmi Oruç / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2022

With the high levels of uncertainty and vulnerability created in everyday activities, the COVID-19 outbreak has prompted a proliferation of narratives. Against the official narrative crosscutting the worlds of science, medicine, social measures, and personal responsibilities, many conspiracy theories have emerged. In this study, we examine both the official COVID-19 narrative and various conspiracy theories as conforming to a format called the pending narratives (Törrönen, 2021). Pending narratives are future-directed stories operating on three levels – story, discourse, and norm – to call their audience for a certain course of action. As such, they are inherently rhetorical, and their audience evaluation is informative of their rhetorical qualities. To examine the reception and evaluation of COVID-19 narratives by young people, we used 27 semi-structured online interviews conducted between June and October 2021 with freshmen university students across Turkey. While the official narrative was emergent throughout the interviews, we asked specifically about certain alternative stories (lab leak, population weapon, hidden elites). Our analysis shows that both the official and the conspiracy narratives have some purchase among the Turkish students. We thus divide the interview responses into three groups: adhering to the official narrative, adhering to the conspiracy theories, and those that are ‘inbetween’. Focusing specifically on the latter group, our analysis maps the reasons for which the interviewees criticise, debunk, and refute various narratives. We conclude by assessing the rhetorical qualities and appeal of the lab leak, population weapon, and hidden elites conspiracy theories.With the high levels of uncertainty and vulnerability created in everyday activities, the COVID-19 outbreak has prompted a proliferation of narratives. Against the official narrative crosscutting the worlds of science, medicine, social measures, and personal responsibilities, many conspiracy theories have emerged. In this study, we examine both the official COVID-19 narrative and various conspiracy theories as conforming to a format called the pending narratives (Törrönen, 2021). Pending narratives are future-directed stories operating on three levels – story, discourse, and norm – to call their audience for a certain course of action. As such, they are inherently rhetorical, and their evaluation by audiences is informative of their rhetorical qualities. To examine the reception and evaluation of COVID-19 narratives by young people, we used 27 semi-structured online interviews conducted between June-October 2021 with freshmen university students across Turkey. While the official narrative was emergent throughout the interviews, we asked specifically about certain alternative stories (lab leak, population weapon, hidden elites). Our analysis shows that both the official and the conspiracy narratives have some purchase among the Turkish students. We thus divide the interview responses into three groups: adhering to the official narrative, adhering to the conspiracy theories, and those that are ‘inbetween’. Focusing specifically on the latter group, our analysis maps the reasons the interviewees criticise, debunk, and refute various narratives. We conclude by assessing the rhetorical qualities and appeal of the lab leak, population weapon, and hidden elites conspiracy theories.Many conspiracy theories have emerged against the official narrative crosscutting the worlds of science, medicine, social measures, and personal responsibilities

In-between the Narratives: Freedom and Fear through the Pandemic. The Mystery of Health

Author(s): Lyuboslava Kostova / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2022

This article deals with the concepts of narrative psychology and ethics and aims to clarify the connection between different social actors and their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper explores the two main aspects of these reactions: freedom and fear. Through the Hegelian paradigm of a thesis, antithesis, and synthesis, these basic individual and social sentiments will be interpreted in their mutual interconnection and subjectivity. The devil manifests himself hiding in the extremes and God – in the golden middle because love is a union of opposites, so Hegelian dialectics is at its best here. In accordance with public health policies and regulations, their impact on the everyday lives of individuals, groups, and nations will be analysed through the lenses of specific notions of authenticity and globalisation. Describing differences and finding similarities will be useful in recreating new space between the narratives where health will reveal itself as a mystery, involving our emotions, prejudices, trust, and entire multidimensional presence as grounded spiritual beings. The main questions to address here will be whether it is possible to use our capacities and stories to initiate significant social change and transformation, where fear, anger, or freedom may bring us to understand who we are and what our existential purpose is. To approach its objective, the article will evaluate online data collected from Internet pages and forums worldwide, thereby connecting seemingly contradictive positions. Only through rebuilding the collective psyche can traumatic narratives be rewritten and social cohesion restored.

Pandemics, Epidemics and Their Classification Criteria: What Questions for Anthropology?

Author(s): Isabelle Gobatto / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2022

Pandemics and epidemics are based on facts, statistics, and estimates translated into projections and epidemiological modeling. They are also the subject of representations and, in a correlative way, of significations. Thus, it is biological, epidemiological, and social criteria that generate the character of seriousness to which global public policies hasten to respond with significant financial support. Many of these are caused by pathogenic agents. Among those identified since the 1970s are the AIDS viruses, more recently COVID-19. However, non-infectious diseases are sometimes supported by narratives that portray them as epidemics or pandemics for example, the WHO has referred to diabetes as a new global epidemic, given its steadily rising prevalence rates worldwide. My aim is to question the central but also ambivalent role played by the production of statistics and quantitative data in qualifying a phenomenon as an epidemic or a pandemic on the one hand and by the collective feeling of uncontrolled and socially dangerous exposure to a risk on the other. I will discuss their performative effects and their symbolic function, using the illustrative case of diabetes. Like many chronic non-communicable diseases, diabetes is a financially under-supported disease in the context of national health systems particularly in low-resource countries, even though it causes millions of deaths. Driven by a desire to alert people to future global health problems, it is of interest to consider how some experts use the notions of contamination or contagion in their arguments and to understand their underlying representations.

Augmenting Community Response to COVID-19 Challenges: Lessons from Andhra Pradesh, India

Author(s): Rajna Mishra,Preeti Kumar,Sakthivel Selvaraj / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2022

The scale and magnitude of the COVID-19 catastrophe are daunting, especially in a lower-middle-income country (LMIC) like India. This study attempted to examine barriers and challenges in accessing COVID-19 services among vulnerable groups including women, children, elderly, persons with disabilities/co-morbidity/underlying medical conditions, and migrant labourers from sampled rural and urban areas of Vijayawada in Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh, India. A cross-sectional mixed method research design was adopted. Desk review followed by in-depth interviews using a purposive sampling strategy among 46 target respondents, including 25 beneficiaries and 21 Decision Makers/COVID Care Providers, was carried out. The outcomes from this study showedthat though testing capacity has surged, and services were made available there is a need to expand testing in rural areas, preferential deployment of WHO point of care diagnostic kits by outreach workers, enforcement of preventive measures, addressing misinformation on non-pharmacological interventions and sensitisation on COVID-19 vaccination. Public health services such as Immunisation, Reproductive and Child Health, Tuberculosis, and other non-COVID health services need to be strengthened, and existing measures on food and supplies for the vulnerable to be sustained.

Żydowskie ślady na Środkowym Nadodrzu

Author(s): Andrzej Kirmiel / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2011

Artykuł dotyczy pozostałości po obecności ludności żydowskiej na Środkowym Nadodrzu. Autorka krótko opisuje polsko-niemiecką współpracę w akcie ratowania dziedzictwa kulturowego na badanym terenie oraz działalność organizacji społecznych i szkół uczestniczących w tym przedsięwzięciu.

Managing a Positive and Life-Skills Development in the School-Based Curricula: a Literature Review on the Sustainable Education

Author(s): Lindita Durmishi,Milena Filipova,Ardian Durmishi,Silva Ibrahimi / Language(s): English Issue: 5/2024

The current paper aims to give a comprehensive exploration of the Life Skills resources and sustainable development and the effectiveness of programs in the general development and positive identity of students in the Albanian educational system. The method used for this study is qualitative with a focus on literature review. Qualitative results revealed that increasing a positive development profile for students in schools impacts decision-making, effective development of interpersonal relations, self-awareness, and emotional management in a life-long education process. The current literature review analysis made us reflect that social support, social competencies, positive identity, and empowerment are the assets with the most specific weight and the highest clinical significance as a form of students’ positive development profile to be considered in future school curricula.

Application of the Competency Model in Business Administration Higher Education in Horizon 2030

Author(s): Nadia Mironova,Tatyana Kicheva,Miglena Angelova / Language(s): English Issue: 5/2024

The aim of the article is to establish the extent to which the education in Business Administration at the University of National and World Economy helps to acquire the main key competencies included in the European Qualification Framework. In achieving this goal we first analyze the qualification characteristics of the curricula to determine the extent to which the key competencies from the Framework are included in the educational program. Secondly we analyze the curricula of specialized disciplines for Business Administration in order to determine which of the disciplines included in the curriculum, the acquisition of which competencies contribute. Thirdly we analyze the expert opinions of business representatives on the most important competencies that graduates must have for future. Finally, we conduct personal interviews with lecturers about their approaches to help students acquire key competencies, necessary for their realization. Our results show that UNWE provides good level of relevance with the European Qualification Framework, but in line of horizon 2030 there are three major areas as a trend in the development of Business Administration: Human Resources; Information technology and Innovations.

Verbal Aggression as a Product of the Minimized or Missing Functions of Social Intelligence

Author(s): Yavor V. Georgiev,Vesela Mareva / Language(s): English Issue: 5/2024

This article aims to present conclusions from an analysis of issues surrounding verbal aggression, particularly in cases where social intelligence is lacking among young individuals. The counterproductiveness of an expanding verbal field saturated with verbal aggression undermines the socio-legal framework of society, negatively impacting not only educational attainment but also the lexical background. Verbal aggression fosters interpersonal conflicts, prompting the authors to conduct a survey to investigate this phenomenon. An anonymous survey was conducted among 100 young people aged 15 to 29 regarding their views on verbal aggression. One of the main conclusions drawn from the conducted survey is the necessity for Bulgaria’s educational model and broader social environment to activate new approaches and teaching methods aimed at enhancing social intelligence, thus mitigating verbal aggression.

Image Generative Programs of Artificial Intelligence and Their Use in Educational Disciplines of Linguistics, Literature, And Arts – The Semiotic Aspects

Author(s): Christo Kaftandjiev,Vesselina Valkanova / Language(s): English Issue: 5/2024

The authors analyse in the Literature Review some of the world’s most important scientific books and articles on the following topics – Artificial Intellect (AI); AI image generative programs (Midjourney and others); semiotics and semantics; intertextuality; metaphors; variants/Invariant and redundancy. In the main part of the paper, the author examines some of AI characteristics, namely - less routine and tedious work; time saving; much more impressive results compared to older generation computers; easier communication with AI, and degree of AI creativity. One of the most important topics in the article is AI and its applications in education of linguistics, literature, art, painting, cinema, architecture, advertising, economics, etc. from a semiotic point of view. The authors also study semantic concepts and AI - intertextuality and AI; relation “diachrony/synchrony” and AI; paradigm and AI; redundancy and AI; and the relation “invariant/variants” and AI. In “Discussion and Conclusions” the authors evaluate the positive and negative aspects of the study and application of AI in school and university curricula of many subjects.

Еволюция на социалните услуги в България – опит за проекция на модел на социалните услуги

Author(s): Lilyana Ivanova Rusanova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2024

The development of social services over the past decade has been placed as a priority on the agenda of European policies. Regardless of the diversity of existing models, objectives and types of social services in European countries, the argument is put forward that they play a significant role in the well-being and integration of different groups and communities in need of social support. The article traces the evolution of social services in Europe and the main stages of reforming the sector in Bulgaria. The quantitative analysis of the types of social services in the context of the new legislation allows us to outline a model of social services, the effectiveness and practical implementation of which require additional research.

Необходимост от комплексна подкрепа на семейства с деца в ранна детска възраст – резултати от проучване на потребностите

Author(s): Rossitsa Simeonova,Ivanka Shalapatova,Monika Bogdanova,Simeon I. Sapundzhiev,Savelina Rusinova / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 2/2024

This article presents results of an empirical study on the needs of children in early childhood age (0–7 years), including children with disabilities and their families. The data are used for the purposes of designing a new type of integrated social service for young children and their families. The authors outline the rationale for this idea in the context of the conceptual framework of the study and the conclusions from the desk research of the relevant policy and legal frameworks in Bulgaria. The empirical data and the findings from the desk research have served for drawing conclusions and recommendations for improving the responses to children and their families as part of the early childhood development policies and systems.

Един етноложки поглед върху интеркултурното образование

Author(s): Mirena Legurska / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 6/2024

Teachers' Adaptation to Changes in an Increasingly Complex World through the Use of AI

Author(s): Zhanat Kunapianovna Nurbekova,Kanagat Baigusheva,Kalima Tuenbaeva,Bakyt Nurbekov,Tsvetomir Vassilev / Language(s): English Issue: 5s/2024

In a rapidly changing world, the adaptation of educators to new challenges becomes critical. Our research within the framework of the research and technical program (grant No. BR21882260, funded by the Science Committee of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan) found that 9,890 (16.1%) of 61,426 teachers consider innovation, creativity, and critical thinking skills to be unimportant or not very important for mentoring. This rejection of an innovation requires a deep understanding of its causes and consequences. These objections may be due to fear of an uncertain future, misunderstanding of the benefits of artificial intelligence (AI), or fear of job loss. The current paper presents the conditions and mechanisms for teachers to adapt to changes in an increasingly complex world using AI.

Атосекундното обучение – метафора на днешното образование

Author(s): Julia Doncheva,Denis Asenov,Angel Smrikarov,Tsvetomir Vassilev / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 5s/2024

Attosecond learning, illuminated through the prism of digitization, embodies the essence of innovation in education adapting to the rapidly changing digital world. Just as the attosecond symbolizes a brief but powerful moment in time capable of triggering significant changes, so digitalized education must not only be flexible and adaptable, but also integrate technologies that provide an adequate response to ever-changing social needs. Similarly, effective digital learning should produce immediate results in terms of student engagement, understanding, and application of knowledge. To achieve this, educators must use a variety of strategies and tools, such as interactive lessons, technology, and personalized learning, to create a dynamic learning environment that sustains student interest and engagement.