The relevance of addressing the understanding of the geography of religion as a section of religious studies is on the one hand due to the growing popularity of this discipline in the modern scientific space, and on the other its insufficient conceptualisation. The high interest in the geography of religion on the part of the scientific community is caused by its focus on the comprehension of theoretical and practical problems related to the spatial characteristics of religious life. Nowadays, the study of territorial aspects of the coexistence of different religious traditions acquires a special urgency due to the combination of globalisation trends and the desire to preserve authentic identity. Historically, the problem field and scientific apparatus of the geography of religion has been formed with reliance on theoretical developments and methodological tools of philosophy and various scientific disciplines, which supports terminological and methodological polyphony within this discipline and hinders its conceptualisation. The aim of this work is to identify possible grounds for attributing the geography of religion to the sections of religious studies. To achieve this goal the following tasks were solved: the origins of the formation of geography of religion were revealed; the approach to the formation of geography of religion from the perspective of geographical science was analysed; the influence of philosophy of religion on the methodological foundations of geography of religion was shown; the main vectors of interrelation between geography of religion and religious studies were determined. The research is limited to the European tradition of studying the relationship between religion and geography. The study is based on the texts of the classics of philosophical thought, as well as the works of Russian and foreign scholars devoted to the comprehension of the geography of religion as a scientific discipline. To reconstruct the thinkers' position on the issues raised, to identify their dependence on the intellectual context and to compare them, such methods as historical and philosophical analysis of the text, discourse analysis and comparative analysis were used. The result of the study was the substantiation of the conclusion about the possibility and expediency of attributing the geography of religion to the branches of religious studies. Such positioning of geography of religion does not contradict the modern understanding of the problem field and tasks of this discipline as they are formulated within the framework of geographical science, and at the same time allows us to identify promising research strategies in interaction with various religious studies disciplines such as: philosophy of religion, history of religion, anthropology of religion, sociology of religion and psychology of religion.
This article offers a new perspective on children and youth’s coerced displacement in the context of the Ottoman Middle East and highlights their potential as a social group to inform studies of children, kinship, and family vis-a-vis the state. Using iltizām contracts, I argue that the Ottoman state prioritized its stability and economic interests and turned a blind eye to promises it made to ensure the “well-being” of young Ottoman subjects. The contracts recorded around the mid-eighteenth century document an institutionalized practice by the state to remove and incarcerate young and minor males associated with the families of multazims, or tax farmers, who generally hailed from the class of provincial notables, or a‘yān, to persuade the latter to render payment of taxes. Although multazims appeared to be indifferent to the fate of their castaway children, evidence suggests that multazims took advantage of geopolitical changes toward the last quarter of the eighteenth century to avoid the incarceration of their children, as the practice completely disappeared at that time. This article also attempts to approach the question of whether this forced displacement of children represents a form of mobility, in comparison to other forms of children’s mobility, like the devširme, and explores what this meant for the expansion, or retraction, of the state power and its governing policies.
Toplumsal cinsiyet eşitsizliği toplumsal yaşamın bütün katmanlarında gözlemlenebilen bir olgudur. Televizyonda yayınlanan medya ürünleri de toplumsal cinsiyet eşitsizliğinin ve ataerkil ideolojinin yeniden üretilmesi noktasında önemli bir rol oynamaktadır. Bu çalışmanın amacı, Türk televizyonlarında yüksek reyting oranlarıyla yayınlanan ve geleneksel/muhafazakâr ve seküler/modernist aile dikotomisi üzerinden iki farklı toplumsallaşmayı yansıtan Kızılcık Şerbeti dizisinin toplumsal cinsiyet eşit(siz)liği bağlamında incelenmesidir. Bu doğrultuda yöntem olarak eleştirel söylem analizi seçilmiş ve dizinin dört tema altında toplumsal cinsiyet eşitsizliğini ve ataerkil ideolojiyi yeniden ürettiği anlaşılmıştır. Dizi üzerinden geleneksel/muhafazakâr toplumsallığın kadını ikincil, erkeği ise birincil cins olarak algıladığına; seküler/modernist toplumsallaşmanın ise toplumsal cinsiyet eşitliğine daha fazla vurgu yaptığına yönelik bir anlatının topluma iletildiği görülmüştür. Çalışma, Türk toplumunun büyük bölümüne hızlı şekilde toplumsal cinsiyet eşitsizliğine ve ataerkil ideolojiye yönelik anlatılar sunan Kızılcık Şerbeti’nin bilinen ilk eleştirel söylem analizini gerçekleştirmiştir.
Memorable food experiences are an important factor in both the tourism business and destination marketers and managers attracting not only current tourists but also potential tourists. Recently, several studies have been performed to explore or understand memorable food experiences, as food experiences are a crucial indicator of tourist behavioural intentions and satisfaction. Thus, the purpose of the current study is to understand tourists’ memorable local food experiences, food experience satisfaction, and behavioural intentions. Accordingly, data was collected through online reviews (424) posted about tourists’ memorable local food experiences in Gaziantep between 9 April 2021 and 29 May 2021. A phenomenological approach and content analysis technique were used to analyse the data. In the results of the present study, a theoretical model of memorable local food experiences (MLFEs) was developed with six key components: novelty, hospitality and services, taste and food attributes, togetherness and local interactions, ambience and setting, and local culture. In addition, tourists’ food experience satisfaction and behavioural intentions were found to be positive while experiencing regional local food. Based on the results of this study, practical and managerial implications are discussed, and future research recommendations are proposed.
Shared e-scooters may complement public transport by offering a solution to the first/last mile problem by easing, or increasing the radius of, access and egress trips. We have gathered real time e-scooter supply and demand data and performed a web survey of e-scooter users in Oslo, Norway. We find that e-scooters stand out as a popular first/last mile mode to many public transport passengers. E-scooters can play an even stronger such role if the two modes are integrated further.
Transportation and communications, Urban groups. The city. Urban sociology
Ali Ghahramani, Ali Ghahramani, Parson Galicia
et al.
In buildings, one or a combination of systems (e.g., central HVAC system, ceiling fan, desk fan, personal heater, and foot warmer) are often responsible for providing thermal comfort to the occupants. While thermal comfort has been shown to differ from person to person and vary over time, these systems are often operated based on prefixed setpoints and schedule of operations or at the request/routine of each individual. This leads to occupants’ discomfort and energy wastes. To enable the improvements in both comfort and energy efficiency autonomously, in this paper, we describe the necessity of an integrated system of sensors (e.g., wearable sensors/infrared sensors), infrastructure for enabling system interoperability, learning and control algorithms, and actuators (e.g., HVAC system setpoints, ceiling fans) to work under a governing central intelligent system. To assist readers with little to no exposure to artificial intelligence (AI), we describe the fundamentals of an intelligent entity (rational agent) and components of its problem-solving process (i.e., search algorithms, logic inference, and machine learning) and provide examples from the literature. We then discuss the current application of intelligent personal thermal comfort systems in buildings based on a comprehensive review of the literature. We finally describe future directions for enabling application of fully automated systems to provide comfort in an efficient manner. It is apparent that improvements in all aspects of an intelligent system are be needed to better ascertain the correct combination of systems to activate and for how long to increase the overall efficiency of the system and improve comfort.
Engineering (General). Civil engineering (General), City planning
There was competition between world alliances for many years. In this work we found historical economic aspects of competition of international container shipping lines and possibilities to enter the world container market for new entities.
The text studies how digitality and refugee routes intersect by focussing on the concepts of »connected migrants« and the digital footprints of refugee routes in transnational spaces. The smartphone is a key signifier of today’s refugee, and possession of one is questioned by government policies of legitimisation and public opinion perceptions of what constitutes a »genuine refugee«. These overlook the complex question of digital rights and migration’s embeddedness in the fluidity of the postmodern world. The text thus deals with the digital world’s ambivalence, which is not just a one-way relation of empowerment but entails the risk of complete control over a refugee’s body as well. We establish that an important shift has occurred in European policies, one most visible in the process of erasing the electronic traces of refugees on the move and the illegal return of refugees to the previous country on their way, the so-called »pushbacks«.
Elena Leonidovna Andreeva, Hermann Simon, Dmitry Andreyevich Karkh
et al.
This article presents the findings of the study on the role of innovative entrepreneurship in the regional economy. The analysis is based on the methodology developed by Hermann Simon, a German scientist who has coined the term ”hidden champions” describing the phenomenon of little-known successful companies that act as innovative growth engines in the German economy. Today, the economies in different countries are developing amid the ”new normal,” in which no expected recovery followed the global crisis of 2008. This makes it necessary to rethink the role of entrepreneurship during a prolonged recession. The authors proposed and tested the hypothesis that, in this environment, the economic growth in the country and the region is increasingly determined not so much by large businesses, but by many small innovative companies. To identify Russian ”hidden champions,” we studied more than 1247 companies listed in the Innovation and Investment Market, a specialized section of the Moscow Exchange, and included in the specialized Register of Business Entities that use nanotechnology. We identified specifically Russian features of innovative entrepreneurship related to national cultural and historical characteristics and the current policy of import substitution. The authors proposed their own method for assessing the innovative entrepreneurship as a source of economic growth in the Russian regions that defines five groups of innovative entrepreneurs (global market leader, one of the global market leaders, Russian market leader, one of the Russian market leaders, not the leader in the Russian market) and compares them with large companies in terms of turnover and profit dynamics. Based on such criteria as ”number of ”hidden champions” and ”number of large enterprises per 100 thousand organizations,” we built a model for the ratio of ”hidden champions” to major companies in the Russian regions that identifies, for each criterion, three subgroups, including leaders, medium-tier and outsiders, which allowed to identify nine types of Russian regions and substantiate different development strategies for main types of regions. The study confirms that the most justified strategy for the development of innovative entrepreneurship in the region is the strategy of cooperation between different types of companies in order to overcome their weaknesses, enhance existing opportunities and activate the innovation and entrepreneurial capacity.
The existence of the specific conditions and development factors of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the regions
of Kazakhstan supposes the differentiated state policy in order to maintain a favorable business climate. The article presents
the results of the research whose purpose was to determine the main issues and directions of the improvement of the business
climate in the regions. This allows to intensify the activities of local authorities in support of SMEs considering the peculiarities
of the territories’ development. The subject matter of this research is the conditions and factors generating the business climate
of the region. As a hypothesis, a direct connection between the prevailing regional business climate and the development of the
quantitative indicators of active SMEs in the field was assumed. The study used the method of comparative analysis, sociological
methods of focus groups, survey research, statistical methods and statistical methods of ranking and grouping. The article
theoretically substantiates the correctness of the usage of «business climate» category as a scope of the study in the framework of
the project of «Implementation of «Business Climate» as an Independent Rating», which makes possible the argumentation of the
used methodology and concretization of the factors affecting the functioning of SMEs in the regions. This research has confirmed
the direct correlation between the established business climate in the regions and quantitative indicators of the development of SMEs at the local level. Such factors as “financial resources” and “government support” have been determined as limiting the
business development in a greater degree. In conclusion, a set of measures to improve the business climate in the region both at
national and regional levels of government has been provided. In addition, it has been concluded that to generate a favorable
business environment in the regions of Kazakhstan, it is necessary to make a smooth transition from a policy of “identification
and punishment of unfair entrepreneurs” to a policy of “prevention and promotion of good business”. The results of the research
can be used in the work of the local executive authorities in order to improve the business climate in the regions of the country.
The article proposes to identify some temporal aspects surrounding protests in Moscow. The data is based on a partially cinematographic investigation into protest coalitions that formed at the turn of 2000 and 2010 around salient events (police violence against young people in April 2008, double political murder in January 2009, mobilization against a highway project through the Khimki forest, in the north of the capital). Its goal is twofold: the article describes first the various pragmatic and normative constraints on protest activities envisaged in their spatial and temporal anchoring and thickness. In a second phase it traces the plurality of ways activist groups control their time. It raises the question of the ability of these groups to access to selected times, despite the constraints.
Este documento responde a la pregunta, ¿qué factores hacen que una organización de base, compuesta por campesinos pobres, con bajo nivel educativo, marginados por los mercados y el gobierno, sean exitosos al insertarse en los mercados globales y promover procesos de desarrollo en su región? Nuestro argumento es que esto es posible cuando se combinan tres factores: 1) contactos con el exterior que le permiten a la organización construir puentes, aprender y desarrollar capacidades; 2) mecanismos internos de gobierno que posibilitan la participación en la toma de decisiones, así como representación, pluralidad y apropiación, entre otras, y 3) un interés amplio en el territorio y sus necesidades por parte de la organización, lo que le gana legitimidad para promover cambio social y desarrollo.
Cities. Urban geography, Urban groups. The city. Urban sociology
The paper analyzes architectural discourse that is formed around the term minimalism, between 1976 and 1999, a period that I consider constitutive for theorization of the term. The presentation is directed by two hypotheses: I) minimalism in architecture does not have a continuous stream of origin, development, and is not a style, direction, movement, school, genre or trend in terms of how it is defined in disciplines such as art history, aesthetics and art theory II) the fact that it's rare for an architect to declare himself a minimalist suggests that minimalism in architecture is actually a product or construct of an architectural discourse that emerged from the need to consolidate the existing obvious and widespread formal idiom in architecture partly during and after post-modernism. It is indicative that the writing of history of minimalism in architecture, in its most intensive period - the nineties, takes place mainly in three cities: London, Barcelona and Milan. In this sense, we can examine how each of these centers emphasized its role, through the ambition of minimalism in architecture to appear as an authentic local creation.
Architecture, Urban groups. The city. Urban sociology
The theme of this paper is that the content, form, location and social role of utopia vary with the material conditions in which people live. These variations have been obscured by definitions of utopia in terms of its function in catalysing social change, which has also produced the illusion that the contemporary Western world lacks utopias. By defining utopia with reference to its meaning to author and audience as an expression of their desires and aspirations, it is possible to trace a series of shifts in the English utopia, to relate these to one another and to the social context, and to show that the `absence' of contemporary utopias is simply another transformation of this kind. From being a spatially-located wish-fantasy, utopia moved through the function of social criticism to being a temporally-located catalyst of social change. These changes depended on perceptions of society-in-time as increasingly malleable and open to human control, culminating in the nineteenth century belief in progress. Utopia now appears to have reverted to the role of wish-fantasy as a result of a prevalent fatalism and a shift away from an evolutionary perspective, a change which, paradoxically, allows it to be more utopian by tying it less closely to reality. Utopia as a catalyst of social change depends on an optimism which is now absent.
El objetivo de este artículo es analizar cuáles son las condiciones necesarias para diseñar un Estado democrático federal integrado y viable. Una de estas condiciones se refiere al sistema de partidos. Se requiere un sistema de partidos que propicie que los líderes locales o regionales sean parte del gobierno nacional. Para ello, lo más adecuado son partidos nacionales con una fuerte base regional. La segunda condición es una presidencia débil, que no pueda gobernar directamente sin contar con los líderes políticos regionales; tendrá que emplear el potencial integrador de su partido mediante el uso de lo que generalmente se denomina "liderazgo".