Digital Commons Network^™

Editorial (English), Chouaib Halifi

SOROUD: The journal of Literacy Criticism

No abstract provided.

How Do Women Maintain Access To Land In The Context Of Multiple Land Users In Contemporary Rural Tanzania?, Rose George Mbezi, Rosemarie Mwaipopo

Tanzania Journal of Sociology

Rural Tanzania is increasingly experiencing a growing heterogeneity of land users, driven by demographic shifts, socio-economic changes, and policy transformations, all of which influence women's ability to maintain secure access to land. Customary practices such as marriage, inheritance, and communal property access are now being practiced alongside statutory frameworks, including land policies and the transformation of communal land into private property, often influenced by economic investments and land acquisitions. Although legislative frameworks have been established to facilitate land access for both men and women, they remain insufficient, as women continue to face challenges in sustaining access to land amidst the …

Anthropological Perspectives On Epilepsy: Exploring Cultural Beliefs And Treatment Practices In Karagwe And Kyerwa Districts, Kagera, Tanzania, Straton Kakoko Ruhinda

Tanzania Journal of Sociology

This study investigates the cultural beliefs, perceived causes, and treatment practices associated with epilepsy in Karagwe and Kyerwa districts of Kagera Region, Tanzania, through an anthropological lens. Using a qualitative case study design, the research explores how traditional and biomedical systems interact in shaping health-seeking behaviors and treatment outcomes among people with epilepsy (PWE). Data were collected through in-depth interviews with PWE, caregivers, biomedical practitioners, and traditional healers, selected via purposive sampling. Thematic analysis revealed that while biomedical practitioners frame epilepsy as a neurological disorder treatable with anti-epileptic drugs, access to consistent care is hindered by structural limitations such as …

Analysis Of Indigenous And Intercultural Public Education In Mexico, Felipe González

Tanzania Journal of Sociology

This article analyzes the processes of indigenous and intercultural education in Mexico as components for the ideological construction of national identity. An important question arises: why do we Mexicans have so much trouble identifying with our cultural differences? From a historical and contemporary perspective, it is analyzed the articulation between two historical moments: a) The basic level indigenous education, implemented throughout the 20th century and b) The intercultural higher education, which began at the beginning of the 21st century. Although each one has its nuances, they are analyzed as part of a historical continuum that stands as a project that, …

Discourses On Psychological Well-Being And Mental Health Of Forced Internally Displaced Persons, Ignasia Paskal Mbatta

Tanzania Journal of Sociology

The number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) has risen at an unprecedented rate in recent years, resulting in profound psychological, social, and economic consequences for affected populations. This study provides a comprehensive exploration of the unique challenges and needs experienced by IDPs, synthesising existing literature to offer critical insights for researchers, practitioners, and policymakers striving to improve the mental health and psychosocial well-being of forcibly displaced persons. Employing a qualitative discourse analysis (DA) approach, the study critically examines how psychosocial vulnerabilities among IDPs are constructed, represented, and contested within academic, policy, and humanitarian narratives. It draws upon a range of …

Rethinking The Refugee: From Migrant Hierarchies To Migration As A Human Right, Roni Amit

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

What Are The Effects Of Statewide Body-Worn Camera Policy Standardization On Recording Rates And Officer Behavior?, Michael Mcdowell

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quasi-experimental research tests the hypothesis whether statewide body-worn camera (BWC) policy standardization produces different results than locally autonomous policies in body-worn camera policies in terms of camera activation, use of force, civilian complaints, and officer perceptions of accountability and procedural justice. Drawing on policy diffusion and organizational justice theories, the study analyzed data from 200 officers across two states using t-tests, regression models, and difference-in-differences analysis. Findings showed that there were no statistically significant changes in the rates of activation, force incidents, or the number of complaints regardless of the type of policy used, meaning that statewide standardization had …

2026-01-14 Winter’S A Drag—Come Watch Drag!, Keagen Brooks-Torres

The Spectator Online

No abstract provided.

Jesus’S View On Church Unity And Leadership: A Comparative Study Of His Views Against The Old Testament And Pauline Models In Addressing Leadership-Driven Divisions Within The Togolese Assemblies Of God Church, Sidibé-Néwendé Kamassé

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This paper will analyze the lack of alignment between Jesus's view of kingdom-centered unity and the pattern of leadership, and how these differences have affected the rule of the church according to biblical history. The paper further examines the problem of divisions driven by leadership in the modern churches, especially those in the Togolese Assemblies of God Church (TAGC). The thesis argues that Jesus's unique teachings on the Kingdom of God can be viewed as both the key organizational principle defining ecclesial leadership and unity and the final leadership paradigm that wrestles with the Old Testament and Pauline models of …

Officers On Patrol: Perspectives Of An Arrest On Past And Present Law Enforcement Officers, Shanee N. Ellington

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

While attempting to apprehend suspects, police officers must contend with complex obstacles arising from the arrest's legal, ethical, and sociopolitical context. Officers had to follow their department’s guidelines while also developing legal procedures when carrying out an arrest. The study focused on how an officer’s perception of arrest decisions and procedures encapsulated challenges and ethical dilemmas. Through a semi-structured interview with twenty respondents, this research explored the implications of arresting behaviors on officers’ professional identity formation and development. The data analysis followed the grounded theory approach, which focused on identifying differences and similarities between former and current officers over time. …

From Retaliation To Restoration: Evaluating Norwegian Prison Rehabilitation Models For United States Integration, Lucas I. Abbott

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study evaluates the viability of implementing Norwegian rehabilitative frameworks within the American prison system by gathering the perspectives of formerly incarcerated men in the United States. Using a qualitative phenomenological design, the research sought to understand how American offenders perceive Norwegian normalization techniques, such as single-occupancy rooms, humane architectural environments, respectful inmate-officer relationships, and their potential to promote rehabilitation and reduce recidivism. Fifteen participants who had served a minimum of three weeks in correctional institutions completed open-ended questionnaires analyzed through conceptual content analysis. Findings revealed strong support for individualized rooms, normalized environments, and increased positive human interaction as transformative …

Livestreaming A Doitocracy: Platform-Jumping Participatory Practices In Modular Synthesis Gear Cultures, Eliot Bates

Publications and Research

Earth Modular Society (EMS) is a cross-platform community dedicated to live hardware modular synthesis, with their primary efforts going into a 24/7 modular “radio station” that livestreams on Twitch and YouTube, and a supporting Discord chat server. Although part of the broader modular synthesis gear culture (a large-scale social formation that coalesces around specific classes of fetishized technical objects), EMS represents a new development in gear cultures as it foregrounds live performance and minimizes the accrual of status via conspicuous consumption. The normative governance structures of platform-specific gear culture communities preclude all but one or a handful of users from …

Timescapes Of The Network Society, Robert Hassan

Fast Capitalism

Since the late ‘70s, the mutually reinforcing interaction between neoliberal economics and the revolution in information and communication technologies (ICTs) has transformed the world in many ways. “Globalization” is what we have come to call this process, and many aspects of its profound effect have been analyzed from a range of perspectives (e.g. Appadurai 1990; Robertson 1993; Omahe 1993; Waters 1995; Bauman 1998; Steger 2003). This paper discusses a central element of this change through globalization that has so far received relatively little attention—our relationship with time and how this is changing, in turn, the nature of power and politics. …

About The Authors, Fast Capitalism Editorial Team

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Full Issue, Fast Capitalism Editorial Team

Fast Capitalism

No abstract provided.

Beyond Verticality And Horizontality: Arcological Thinking And The Neoliberal Subject, François Debrix

Fast Capitalism

Over the past two decades, several critiques of neoliberalism have relied on a binary understanding of space to depict neoliberalism’s operations and objectives as well as to offer modes of mobilization and contestation against neoliberal politics and economics. For quite a few scholars, the challenge of neoliberal capitalism and the need to resist it can be summed up as an opposition between verticality and horizontality. In particular, this challenge, we are told, is what the contemporary subject of neoliberal politics (or what commonly has been referred to as the “neoliberal subject”) is faced with. While neoliberalism’s vertical structures, institutions, aspirations, …

“Rise Of The Resistance” And The Demise Of Social Being: The Autolysis Of Subjectivity In The Twenty-First Century, Reha Kadakal

Fast Capitalism

Structural transformations in the 21st century necessitate radical rethinking of the category of subject that underlie the notions of autonomy, agency and individuality. This paper depicts an onto-genetic transformation of the subject— its autolysis—in the historical present by building on representations and the mediation of categories of social life. The paper first delineates the notion of representation as a central element of critical ontology as a form of social theory by building on Hegel and Durkheim. It then draws on a recent product from the culture industry, namely The Disneyland theme-park ride called “Rise of the Resistance,” which involves a …

Seminar: Playing As Inquiry At Rocket, Cristo Leon, Sarah Lynne Bowman, Kjell Hedgard Hugaas

STEM for Success Resources

This PowerPoint presentation presents Playing as Inquiry, a methods-forward account of the León Multimodal Protocol (LMP) for studying transformation in tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) at scale. The presentation is designed for scholarly audiences interested in qualitative methods, game studies, and transdisciplinary research design, with an explicit commitment to accessibility through consistent verbal description of visual materials.

The talk begins by situating TTRPGs as layered narrative, social, and material systems in which meaning emerges across embodied performance, language, rules negotiation, artifacts, platforms, and memory over time. From this foundation, the presentation identifies a core methodological problem: traditional qualitative approaches struggle …

Identifying Priority Research Questions For Decentralized Wastewater, Bryan W Brooks, Timothy Callahan, Jacob K Stanley, Jamie Holodak, Kevin M Stroski, Alissa H Cox, Thomas W Groves, Anish Jantrania, Jeff C Moeller, Kris Neset, Christopher Walker, Harry Zhang, Amal Bakchan, Kelly D Alley, Jim Bell, Allison Blodig, Eric Casey, Donna Cosper, Victor D'Amato, Mark A Elliott, Greg Graves, Roxanne Groover, Robert Himschoot, Mary G Lusk, Jillian Maxcy-Brown, David Meints, Rojelio Mejia, Matt Pace, Benjamin J Ryan, Brian Scheffe, Tom Schimelfenig, June E Wolfe, Sara F Heger

Faculty, Staff and Students Publications

Decentralized wastewater treatment and reuse represent critical infrastructure across the rural-periurban-urban continuum around the world. Effective, efficient, resilient, and equitable implementation of on-premise technologies and management systems is part of a One Water approach and necessary to protect public health and the environment, yet inconsistent delivery of essential public health services persists in many regions, including across states, tribes, and territories of the United States. We initiated a groundbreaking effort to understand challenges and to identify research opportunities related to the science and practice of decentralized wastewater. A horizon scanning exercise using a bottom up and transparent key questions approach …

Exploring The Relationship Between Man And Nature In A Postmodern Context：A Review Of Ecocriticism And Chinese Literature: Imaginary Landscapes And Real Living Spaces, Jiyong Geng, Jie Yang

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

No abstract provided.

In Memoriam Gwangju: Transnational Memoryscapes Of Gwangju And Buenos Aires In The Works Of Han Kang And Im Heung-Soon, Heewon Chung

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

Currently acclaimed as the first Asian female author who won the Nobel Prize in literature, Korean writer Han Kang has persistently struggled with memoryscapes and traumascapes. Han’s collection of poems Winter Beyond the Mirror delineates the poetic “I”’s experiences of visiting Argentina and describes how she senses the interconnectedness between Gwangju and Buenos Aires. Korean artist-filmmaker Im Heung-soon’s recent film Good Light, Good Air addresses the same issue, and actually Im and Han have shared a mutual concern about it since Han’s novel Human Acts. This essay defines Winter Beyond the Mirror and Good Light, Good Air, coupled …

“I Have Got Rid Of, For Good, Eastern Backwardness”: Ra’Fat’S Guilty Assimilation In Al Aswany’S Chicago: A Novel, Rimun Murad

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

Where scholars of Arab studies have asserted that conversations of integration or assimilation in Arab American and Arab immigrant literature have shifted to notions of hybridity and multiculturalism, Alaa Al Aswany’s Chicago: A Novel stresses that the question of assimilation remains relevant due to the power differentials that exist between “East” and “West.” Chicago’s Dr. Ra’fat Thabit who insists on replacing his Egyptian identity with an “American” one—and embracing highly problematic norms—offers an understanding of assimilation as an emotional process that occasions violence towards the other. This violence, in turn, brings about feelings of guilt and shame rechanneled as …

Las Filipinas: The Persistence Of Spain In Jessica Hagedorn's Dogeaters, Blake Seana Locklin

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

This essay argues for the significance of the legacy of Spain in Jessica Hagedorn's Dogeaters. Critical analyses have explored many aspects of the novel's portrayal of relations between the Philippines and the United States, a more recent colonizer whose influence on politics and culture is prominent in Dogeaters. The effects of Spanish colonization are more subtle in the novel, but pervade its representation of characters, language, and society. While highlighting the fragmentation of individual and national identities, Dogeaters depicts a Philippines in which many social and political problems have roots in the Spanish colonial era. Building on the …

Between Religion And Feminism: Analysis Of Gendered Religious Discourse On Moroccan Social Media And Its Societal Effects, Roua Chkouni

Faits de Langue et Société (FLS)

This article examines gendered religious discourse on Moroccan social media and analyses its effects on representations of identity. Taking a multidisciplinary approach that combines gender sociology, sociology of religion and digital studies, this research draws on critical and digital discourse analysis, online ethnography and field observations. The results highlight how this content, by exploiting the virality and interactivity inherent in these platforms, contributes to the reproduction and reformulation of patriarchal norms. The study thus highlights the tension between the modernisation of media, the reconfiguration of religious authority and the persistence of gender hierarchies in the contemporary Moroccan context.

Social Science Methodologies Focusing On Women's Emancipation Through Religion Feedback On The Second Rima Doctoral Training Programme In Morocco, Fabienne Samson, Kae Amo, Aïcha Barkaoui, Nadège Chabloz, Anouk Cohen, Marie Nathalie Leblanc, Saliou Ngom

Faits de Langue et Société (FLS)

This article introduces the special issue, based on presentations by doctoral students who participated in a training school on social science methodologies in autumn 2024. The school took place in Morocco (Casablanca, Rabat and Mohammedia), in partnership with Hassan II University and the Jacques Berque Centre, and was organised as part of the ANR RIMA programme on women's empowerment through religion. This introduction presents the RIMA programme, the activities of the training school, and the various articles written by the students, in order to understand how they respond to the teachings on the themes of gender, inequalities and religiosity, with …

Women's Emancipation Through Religion, Nadia Kaaouas, Taoufik Ait Bouchgour

Faits de Langue et Société (FLS)

This editorial argues that studies of Maghrebi and African women’s relationships to religion are far from obsolete. It recalls how the field moved from descriptive accounts of injustices and sensationalized writings toward stronger sociological and anthropological inquiry. Anchored in a special issue of Faits de langue et de société linked to the ANR-funded RIMA project coordinated by Fabienne Samson, the dossier examines women’s emancipation through religious practice and discourse as tools for action, resistance, and activism. Contributors highlight methodological and ethical challenges of researching “at home” and online, where social media enables reinvention yet also can subtly reproduce religious norms.

Global Insight 2026, Masey Smith, Chance Carden, Hayley Pounds

Books

Global Insight 2026 is the annual publication of the International Institute at Mississippi State University, documenting the university’s global engagement across education, research, service, and institutional partnerships. This issue highlights Mississippi State University’s international impact through faculty‑led study abroad programs, international research and development initiatives, global fellowships, and comprehensive international student support services. Featured content includes narrative case studies of student and faculty experiences abroad, data‑driven insights into study abroad participation and international enrollment trends, and in‑depth examinations of international research collaborations spanning Africa, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. The magazine also showcases the work of the English Language Institute …

“No Ifs, Ands, Or Butts”: Analyzing Race And Gender In Sex And The City Through Black Feminist Theory, Daniella Orias

Dialogue: The Interdisciplinary Journal of Popular Culture and Pedagogy

This article analyzes Season 3, Episode 5 of Sex and the City, “No Ifs, Ands, or Butts,” through the lens of Black feminist theory. It investigates how race and gender are constructed, stereotyped, and selectively represented within the episode’s narrative. The analysis focuses on two Black characters who were featured only in one episode of the series, Adeena and Chivon, and examines how the show portrays harmful stereotypes such as the angry Black woman (Adeena) and sexualized Black male (Chivon) in the episode. These limited and harmful representations are further scrutinized by the fact that the show is often …

Conducting A Qualitative Umbrella Review For Novice Researchers: A Critical Reflection Of Primary Documents, Mónica Fontana, Celia Camilli Trujillo

The Qualitative Report

The need for scientific evidence in education has accelerated systematic reviews. However, the practice of conducting umbrella reviews is not yet common in education. Among the possible reasons for the scarce number of umbrella reviews in education is the lack of knowledge of the steps required to conduct them and the specific challenges of this method. Their usefulness in the educational context lies in their ability to offer new findings of great scope and transferability based on evidence from multiple systematic reviews in an efficient and in-depth manner. This study provides a critical reflection on the methodological implications of conducting …

Perception As Beholding: Theological Possibility And Moral Implication Of Merleau-Ponty's Notion Of Embodied Subject, Erickson L. Totanes

Budhi: A Journal of Ideas and Culture

In this article, I argue that Merleau -Ponty’s concept of perception reveals a way of seeing where the subject is involved with the object in a dynamic, reversible, and expanding relationship. This notion challenges the traditional and Cartesian subject -object dichotomy by emphasizing the embodied and lived experience of perception which elicits a process, a way of looking, anticipating, and reflexively, a way of being itself. By aligning seeing with beholding, I attempt to show how as simple an act as seein g evokes a manner of being related to an object, other people, and the world. The emergence of …