Background and Objectives: Between 2019 and 2023, Thailand witnessed waves of student- and youth-led protest movements. Although these young people are part of a new generation raised with scientific knowledge and technological advancements, many have chosen to incorporate supernatural beliefs and rituals—referred to as “ilmu teluh”—into their political activism, for example, the emergence of the “Ratsadon-muteluh”, a group which incorporates beliefs and rituals as a form of political expression. Methods: This research studies the social phenomenon of superstitious belief and ritual practice among youth protesters using three methods: documentary analysis, non-participatory observation, and in-depth interviews (secondary data). Results: Ilmu teluh rituals are practiced by numerous protest participants from various groups who believe that Thai society is dominated by a culture of privilege and oppression with a long-standing historical foundation, especially the Thai Royal Institution. These youth protesters perceive their political opponents, whom they label as the conservatives, to be highly credulous and devoted to superstition. As such, they therefore chose to use ilmu teluh as a symbolic tool to challenge their political opponents. Their protests targeted belief systems associated with prominent figures, while attempting to present an invented culture by reenacting rituals claimed to originate from the people instead. The protest rituals involving ilmu teluh were reenactments that did not follow the formal ritualistic principles of any particular belief system or religion, but were instead play-acting which comprises three acts: 1) the speech by protest leaders to clarify the objectives of the demonstration, 2) the role-playing as an artistic ritual to express emotions of resistance, and 3) the burning of effigies or objects as a form of symbolic communication through fire served as a climactic act in the performance. These rituals functioned both as a mechanism for moral healing and as a symbolic violence alternative to physical violence within the youth movements. Application of this study: This research offers a framework for understanding the use of ilmu teluh rituals as a form of symbolic resistance. It serves as an analytical tool for examining youth-led cultural movements and political expressions within the context of an authoritarian society. The study is relevant to scholars, activists, and policymakers seeking to understand movements driven by beliefs. Conclusions: Ilmu teluh rituals in Thai youth protests function as a symbolic expression that integrates political resistance with expressive culture. Through the reinterpretation and reconnection with traditional beliefs, youth protesters can use superstition as a tool for challenging authority, reclaiming public space, and expressing collective frustration. These rituals reflect a shift toward a movement rooted in the people rather than monopolized by the elites.
The story of the killing of the ‘last’ great auk (Pinguinus impennis) in Britain, apparently put to death as a witch at Stac an Armin in the St Kilda archipelago c. 1840, is well known. However, other accounts claim that an auk was killed on the main island, Hirta, having been condemned to death by the celebrated men’s ‘parliament’. The historical veracity of three differing stories, which recount discreditable deeds in a deeply Christian community, is evaluated; it seems that fewest difficulties are raised if two great auks were killed, one on Hirta and the other on Stac an Armin. It is argued that this kind of avicide was a ‘ritual’ killing, to be understood in its historical context. The auk-killing probably took place in the mid to late 1840s, after the St Kilda minister had departed in the wake of the Disruption of 1843 - a particularly unsettling time within this small island community. A possible sighting of a pair of great auks on Soay (St Kilda) in 1890 is also briefly discussed.
Abstract The increasing popularity of radical right, anti-immigrant, neo-nationalist movements can be seen as a response to super-diverse and complex migration and globalization processes challenging the ideology of the ‘nation-state’ and the traditional education system. Based on the question of how English is increasingly viewed as a threat to Swiss national languages and identities, this study presents data from Switzerland, often portrayed as the ideal multilingual country. Such a challenge was nevertheless confirmed through the qualitative analysis of 38 in-depth interviews conducted with students and teachers at three secondary schools in three language regions, policy makers, and open-ended questions from 94 student questionnaires. Language education policies have divided the educational landscape into certain regions prioritizing English over a national language and others adhering to the traditional curriculum. The data reveal strong ideological beliefs, lacking intranational communication, and personal as well as societal struggles of positioning based on linguistic competences, expectations, and policies. This article advocates for interdisciplinary approaches to (language) education as societies’ and students’ needs constantly evolve and calls on all learners’ and educators’ responsibility to counteract such movements.
At the turn of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the landscape of religions and the dynamics of beliefs are reshaped by several movements. On one side, a ‘return of magic’ in contemporary societies and the rise of a modern witchcraft, and in parallel, and on another side, the rise and expansion of forms of ‘spirituality’. These two movements, both featuring in a specific manner the new face of the sacred, are often considered isolated from each other by social sciences and humanities, and religious studies, they, however, significantly crossover. As a result, modern witchcraft is turning more ‘spiritual’, whereas spirituality is – to a certain extent – becoming more ‘witchy’. With reference to the empirical examples of the emerging movements Magic for resistance and Witches 2.0, this article aims at demonstrating that the issue of politics and empowerment facilitate the cross-fertilization of the two movements in the context of high digitization.
Throughout the history of China, the conception of marriage in Chinese traditional philosophy, such as Confucianism, has remained longstanding and influential even in modern Chinese society. The standards and the social and familial obligations for both sexes that result from such matrimonial beliefs, however, have developed in conflict with modern lifestyles and mindsets, especially for females. This article, through an in depth analysis of the expectations of marriage of both genders, their views on marriage and their expectations of the other spouse, and a variety of current events and movements, aims to further understand the status quo and future outlook in the Chinese marriage market from social, cultural, and economic perspectives. In the current Chinese marriage market, there remain two stereotypical sets of standards for a perfect spouse for both males and females, which are both reinforced through prevalent dating attitudes and disapproved of by modern feminism, the new lifestyle pursuits of the younger generation, and the deprioritization of marriage by females.
W. H. Adnan, Abdul Hamid Saifuddin, Ireena Nasiha Ibnu
Radical organisations frequently target young adults, especially college students, to enlist them as cadres for their movements all over the world. They are recruited in a variety of ways, with the use of cyberspace being particularly prevalent. These extremists no longer use face-to-face interactions in the physical world to promote extremism in the age of the internet. Instead, they use the internet and information technology. These radical groups frequently take advantage of the widespread use of the internet, social media, and social networking tools to spread their beliefs, advance their doctrines, identify and recruit potential cadres, and even to call for jihad against the West. The present study aims to explore the reasons for radical organisations in targeting young adults in delivering their propaganda. Meta-Analysis was conducted through a narrative review of findings from multiple primary research studies on various studies to derive more robust conclusions and identify patterns and consistencies across different studies. Factors contributed are idealism and passion, vulnerability, active and energy, access to education and resources as well as due to long-term commitment. Radical organisations exploit this idealism to recruit young adults who may be more willing to engage in radical activities to achieve their goals and also to provide the manpower needed to carry out their agendas. Additionally, college students may have access to resources, such as meeting spaces, funding, and a network of like-minded individuals, which can further the goals of radical organisations and the ability to provide a constant stream of recruits and sustain the organisation's activities over time as most young adults prioritise their education, personal growth, and other non-radical activities. Thus, it is crucial to promote critical thinking, media literacy, digital literacy and open dialogue to empower young adults to make informed decisions and resist the influence of radical organisations.
The events of January 6, 2021 gave new currency to the idea of brainwashing. Some claimed that Trump's followers had been brainwashed, while others insisted that a 'deep state' had brainwashed most Americans into accepting a rigged election. Scholars who explain that brainwashing theories have long been rejected by most academics and courts of law find it difficult to be heard. Brainwashing nevertheless remains a convenient explanation of how seemingly normal citizens convert to unusual religious or political ideologies. This Element traces its origins to the idea that conversion to deviant beliefs is due to black magic. A more scientific hypnosis later replaced magic and the Cold War introduced the supposedly infallible technique of brainwashing. From the 1960s, new religious movements, more commonly called cults, were accused of using brainwashing. Most scholars of religion reject the theory as pseudoscience, but the controversy continues to this day.
Abstract This paper explores how images are used in online far‐right political communication to create distinct groups of “otherness.” Focusing on the Danish People's Party, we look at how symbolic boundaries are constructed through images to emphasize an exclusive conception of the nation and its citizens, who need protection from the threatening “others.” In order to understand the global rise of the far right, scholars of social movements and digital media have called for new research on how visual images serve the mainstreaming of extremist and nationalist beliefs online. We look at images communicated by the Danish People's Party on their Facebook page, exploring how digital images visually communicate the party's slogan of “Safety and trust” (in Danish: “Tryghed og tillid”). With a focus on boundary construction, we present a multimodal visual analysis of 1120 images posted by the party from 2012 to 2020. The data shows how the party constructs an imaginary of Danishness through an exclusionary impermeable boundary construction of a trusted in‐group's values and traditions in opposition to culturally distinct “others.”
Sophie J. Nightingale, Kimberley A. Wade, Derrick G. Watson
Manipulated images can have serious and persistent ramifications across many domains: They have undermined trust in political campaigns, incited fear and violence, and fostered dangerous global movements. Despite growing concern about the power of manipulated images to influence people's beliefs and behavior, few studies have examined whether people can detect manipulations and the psychological processes underpinning this task. We asked 5,291 older adults, 5,291 middle-aged adults, and 5,291 young adults to detect and locate manipulations within images of real-world scenes. To determine whether a simple intervention could improve people's ability to detect manipulations, some participants viewed a short video which described the five common manipulation techniques used in the present study. Overall, participants demonstrated a limited ability to distinguish between original and manipulated images. Older adults were less accurate in detecting and locating manipulations than younger and middle-aged adults, and the effect of age varied by manipulation type. The video intervention improved performance marginally. Participants were often overconfident in their decisions, despite having limited ability to detect manipulations. Older adults were more likely than younger and middle-aged adults to report checking for shadow/lighting inconsistencies, a strategy that was not associated with improved discriminability, and less likely to report using other strategies (e.g., photometric inconsistencies) that were associated with improved discriminability. Differences in strategy use might help to account for the age differences in accuracy. Further research is needed to advance our understanding of the psychological mechanisms underlying image manipulation detection and the myriad factors that may enhance or impair performance. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved).
Abstract Background Albania is facing decreasing childhood immunisation coverage and delay in timeliness of vaccination despite a growing economy and universal health insurance. Our aim is to estimate childhood immunisation timeliness and vaccine confidence associated with health information source, maternal, socioeconomic, and geographic characteristics in Albania. Methods We used the 2017–2018 Albania Demographic and Health Survey to analyse childhood immunisation timeliness and vaccine confidence among 2113 and 1795 mothers of under-5-year-old children respectively using simple and multivariable logistic regression. Results Among mothers of under-5-year-old children in Albania, 78.1% [95% CI: 74.3, 81.5] never postponed or rejected childhood vaccines. Immunisation delay was reported by 21.3% [18.0, 25.1] of mothers, but a majority (67.0%) were caused by the infant’s sickness at the time of vaccination, while a minority (6.1%) due to mothers’ concerns about vaccine safety and side effects. Vaccine confidence was high among the mothers at 92.9% [91.0, 94.4] with similar geographical patterns to immunisation timeliness. Among 1.3% of mothers who ever refused vaccination of their children, the main concerns were about vaccine safety (47.8%) and side effects (23.1%). With respect to childhood immunisation timeliness, after controlling for other background characteristics, mothers whose main health information source was the Internet/social media had 34% (adjusted odds-ratio AOR = 0.66 [0.47, 0.94], p = 0.020) lower odds in comparison to other sources, working mothers had 35% (AOR = 0.65 [0.47, 0.91], p = 0.013) lower odds in comparison to non-working mothers, mothers with no education had 86% (AOR = 0.14 [0.03, 0.67], p = 0.014) lower odds compared to those who completed higher education, and mothers living in AL02-Qender and AL03-Jug regions had 62% (AOR = 0.38 [0.23, 0.63], p < 0.0001) and 64% (AOR = 0.36 [0.24, 0.53], p < 0.0001) lower odds respectively in comparison to those residing in AL01-Veri region (p < 0.0001). With respect to vaccine confidence, mothers whose main health information source was the Internet/social media had 56% (AOR = 0.44 [0.27, 0.73], p = 0.002) lower odds in comparison to other sources, single mothers had 92% (AOR = 0.08 [0.01, 0.65], p = 0.019) lower odds compared to those married/living with a partner, mothers of specific ethnicites (like Roma) had 61% (AOR = 0.39 [0.15, 0.97], p = 0.042) lower odds in comparison to mothers of Albanian ethnicity, and mothers living in AL03-Jug region had 67% (AOR = 0.33 [0.19, 0.59], p ≤ 0.0001) lower odds compared to mothers residing in AL01-Veri region. Conclusions Reinforcement of scientific evidence-based online communication about childhood immunisation in combination with tracking and analysis of vaccine hesitancy sentiment and anti-vaccination movements on the Internet/social media would be beneficial in improving immunisation timeliness and vaccine confidence in Albania. Since parents tend to search online for information that would confirm their original beliefs, traditional ways of promoting vaccination by healthcare professionals who enjoy confidence as trusted sources of health information should be sustained and strengthened to target the inequities in childhood immunisation timelines and vaccine confidence in Albania.
ABSTRACT What explains support for Black Lives Matter among Asian Americans? This article draws on nationally representative data from the 2016 Collaborative Multiracial Post-Election Survey to examine the contours of Asian American public opinion on Black Lives Matter and the factors that shape them. Examining intragroup and intergroup attitudes across a set of racial, ethnic/national origin, and cross-racial group measures, I show that race-based considerations are significant predictors of Asian American support for Black Lives Matter. Specifically, I find that those who support Black Lives Matter are more likely to perceive linked fate with other Asian Americans and with other non-white groups and to perceive anti-black discrimination in the United States. I argue that, while never a panacea, race-based linked fate beliefs among Asian Americans, both as Asian Americans and with other groups of color, are a viable and imperative part of building cross-racial coalitions and contemporary racial justice movements.
1. Abstract The influence and expansion of Islam religion in the Indian Subcontinent are the important issues which have been considered by scholars for a long time ago. Various factors have contributed to the spread and influence of Islam in the Indian Subcontinent including the arrival of early invaders, Muslim merchants and traders, and the migration of Muslim clerics and Sufis. Meanwhile, the share of Sufis has been higher and more considerable than in other groups. Some Western and Indian scholars believe that Islam first entered the region through military conquests. But, historical evidence did not support this claim. Although in a general process, military movements should be considered as obstacles to the influence and spread of Islam, but in some periods and some areas of migration, military campaigns provided a good platform for groups of Arab tribes or individuals and groups of merchants, Sufis, scholars, and scientists to enter the area. Some Sufis even went to India with the same troops. With proper and humane behavior and interaction with the inhabitants of the Indian Subcontinent and the Indian religions, Sufis were able to partially eliminate the hatred and pessimism of the Indian invaders about the actions of the Muslim invaders in the early periods of the spread of Islam. 2. Introduction The main aim of the research is the expansion of Islam in the Indian Subcontinent with relying on the influence of moral and spiritual behaviors of Sufis especially the reduction of the negative approach of inhabitants and the Indian hatred and pessimism from the function of the invaders in the early period of the expansion of Islam. However, Ghaznavids were of forces which took the most effective steps towards the occupation of India. In the fourth century AH, Sabuktagin first invaded India and took the control of much of the region. A few years later, Sultan Mahmud of Ghaznavid invaded India and targeted India fifteen or seventeen times by the end of his reign. This study seeks to answer the question of how the interaction of Sufis and Sufi leaders with the natives of India, especially their spiritual conduct and avoidance of military behavior, had an effect on the Islamization of the Indian people from the Ghurian period to the beginning of the Gurkhanids. 3. Materials & Methods Generally, using the descriptive-analytical method and based on library resources, this paper aims to study Sufis’ contribution to the Islamization of native Indians during the age of Turk rulers. 4. Discussion of results & conclusion The interaction of Sufi missionaries and leaders and their function has played an important role in deepening Islamic and religious beliefs among the inhabitants of the Indian Subcontinent. In fact, the wider influence and spread of Islam in India, according to evidence and citations, was the result of peaceful, tolerant activities and spiritual and cultural interactions, especially by Muslim Sufis. Sufis’ intellectual commonalities with Hindu rituals and practices, their spiritual conduct, exchanges of Sufi cults with the Hindu rituals and especially their avoidance of military and oppressive acts not only drew the attention of Indians to themselves but also changed the negative attitude of the Indian community towards the military and violent behavior of the early Islamic invaders in the invasion of India. Sufis and Sufi cults which entered India as immigrants or preachers were influential in the mental purification of the natives of this region. The spiritual behaviors of Sufis partly improved the negative consequences of Muslim invasions and changed their attitudes toward Islamic teachings. This greatly influenced the new approach of the people of the Indian Subcontinent to Islam after the military invasion. The Sufi group has shown outright honesty, trustworthiness, and chastity in trade and commerce with the leading business classes of India and other social groups. They were actively involved in supporting the rural part of the Indian Subcontinent. On the other hand, they respected the beliefs of the Indians. In the interval between Ghurids’ domination and the Gurkhanid dynasty, Sufi cults such as Chashtiyya, Suhrawardiyya, Naqshbandiyya, Qāderiyya, and Kubrawiyya along with the Indian rulers, especially the Muslim sultans of Delhi, were considered to be the main causes of Islamization of Indigenous Indian Subcontinent. Sufis’ counseling and assistance to Islamic governments in India such as Gholamshahi, Khalajan, Tughlughiyyan, Sādat dynasty, Lūdi governors, and Syrian kings were effective in spreading Islam in the Indian Subcontinent during these periods. The other results of this study showed that the content of Sufi invitations like an emphasis on monotheism, equality of human rights, humility, and accepting divine morality. and reaching God through helping people and aiding helpless ones had a profound effect on the tendency of the Indians to Islam. Learning different local languages and connecting with different religions and classes of India facilitated the Sufis’ invitation for unity and solidarity, especially since Sufis opposed religious monopoly. Hence, they were able to reduce the violence of the early Muslim invaders to some extent by purifying the souls. The preaching method and lifestyle of Sufis, such as seclusion and abundant worship, corresponded to life and aspects of the principles of Indian philosophy. Therefore, the adversary of Indians with the system of inferiority, religious tolerance, support for religious diversity, simplicity of life, and good relations with the Ghurid Sultans, Mamluks, and Delhi kings were effective in the expansion of Islam in the Indian Subcontinent.
History (General) and history of Europe, History of Asia
This article deals with the description of the posthumous destiny of the dead in the horror story A Terrible Vengeance by Mykola Gogol. It describes the patrimonial cemetery of the sorcerer, where all his ancestors were buried. Their corpses rise from their graves, but the first local dead man, the largest of them, cannot rise, and his movements cause earthquakes. These images can be fully understood only in comparison with Chuvash beliefs about the first buried dead person as the cemetery master and also with Zoroastrian and Ossetian mythological concepts. The Chuvashes and the Iranian-speaking nations, primarily the Ossetians, have parallels to the plot about a father coveting his daughter and killing his grandchild, the soul’s wanderings during sleep, and other related motifs. Thus, the folkloric motifs on which the story is constructed help to reveal the ethnocultural connections of the early Ukrainians.