#Social Theory and Urban Studies

[omegaphilosophia]

The Philosophy of Metropolitanism

The philosophy of metropolitanism centers around the unique social, cultural, and economic dynamics of metropolitan (urban) areas and examines how these environments shape human experience, social structures, and values. Metropolitanism views cities as hubs of diversity, innovation, and complex social interactions, which stand in contrast to more traditional or rural ways of life.

Key Themes in Metropolitanism

Urban Identity and Cosmopolitanism: Metropolitanism often emphasizes cosmopolitan values, where individuals are exposed to a range of cultures, ideas, and lifestyles. Cities foster a sense of open-mindedness and adaptability, as people encounter diversity and interact with individuals from various backgrounds.

Collective and Individual Identity: In metropolitan environments, there is often a tension between collective urban identity (e.g., being a New Yorker, Londoner) and the individual’s quest for uniqueness. City life often supports personal expression while also creating a shared cultural experience within neighborhoods, workplaces, or social circles.

Innovation and Progress: Cities are frequently seen as engines of progress and change. The metropolitan lifestyle values innovation and entrepreneurship, spurred by dense social and economic networks that encourage rapid exchange of ideas, resources, and opportunities.

Alienation and Anonymity: Metropolitanism also considers the challenges of urban life, such as alienation, stress, and a sense of disconnection, despite being surrounded by people. Some argue that cities can lead to impersonal relationships, as individuals are constantly moving and adapting to the fast pace of urban life.

Social Complexity and Hierarchies: Cities create complex social structures, with different socioeconomic classes, professional networks, and communities. Metropolitanism examines how these layers contribute to both opportunity and inequality, and how urban policies impact issues like gentrification, housing, and public services.

Public Space and Community: The philosophy of metropolitanism also considers the importance of public spaces—parks, squares, and cultural sites—in fostering social cohesion and community life. These spaces serve as places for connection, recreation, and political expression, balancing the private and public spheres in dense urban landscapes.

Environmental and Sustainability Concerns: Urban environments are increasingly under scrutiny for their impact on the natural environment, and metropolitanism encompasses discussions on sustainable city planning, green spaces, and the need for eco-friendly solutions to address issues like pollution, traffic, and energy use.

Philosophical Perspectives on Metropolitanism

Urbanism and the Human Condition: Thinkers like Georg Simmel and Walter Benjamin have explored how city life affects the individual’s psyche, noting that the sensory overload and rapid pace of cities influence people’s ways of thinking and relating to one another.

Metropolitanism and Social Theory: Urban theorists, such as Henri Lefebvre, emphasize the “right to the city,” which argues that city residents should have a say in urban planning and access to its resources, promoting an ethical perspective on urban living.

Globalization and Cultural Exchange: Cities are often at the forefront of globalization, and metropolitanism reflects this interconnectedness, where metropolitan areas serve as cultural and economic nodes in a global network. This raises questions about cultural preservation, assimilation, and the impacts of international influence on local customs.

Critiques of Urban Capitalism: Many theorists critique the capitalist structures prevalent in urban centers, arguing that metropolitan areas often become sites of economic disparity, where wealth and poverty are starkly juxtaposed. Scholars like David Harvey analyze how urbanization serves capitalistic interests, often prioritizing profit over the welfare of city dwellers.

Postmodern Urbanism: Postmodernist thinkers suggest that metropolitan life challenges traditional norms and hierarchies, giving rise to new forms of community, identity, and cultural expression. The postmodern city is seen as a space of fragmentation but also of new opportunities for redefining social relations.

Influence and Application of Metropolitanism

Metropolitanism has practical implications in urban planning, sociology, and environmental policy. It influences how cities are designed, addressing issues of accessibility, inclusivity, and sustainability. Additionally, metropolitanism shapes cultural policy and education, as cities are hubs for art, music, and intellectual exchange. It also informs political theory, with cities often being centers for social movements and advocacy for issues like civil rights, environmentalism, and economic equality.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Lois Beckett at The Guardian:

Attacks targeting American public schools over LGBTQ+ rights and education about race and racism cost those schools an estimated $3.2bn in the 2023-24 school year, according to a new report by education professors from four major American universities. The study is believed to be the first attempt to quantify the financial impact of rightwing political campaigns targeting school districts and school boards across the US. In the wake of the pandemic, these campaigns first attempted to restrict how American schools educate students about racism, and then increasingly shifted to spreading fear among parents about schools’ policies about transgender students and LGBTQ+ rights.

Researchers from UCLA, UT Austin, UC Riverside and American University surveyed 467 public school superintendents across 46 US states, asking them about the direct and indirect costs of dealing with these volatile campaigns. Those costs included everything from out-of-pocket payments to hire to lawyers or additional security, to the staff member hours devoted to responding to disinformation on social media, addressing parent concerns and replying to voluminous public records requests focused on the district’s teachings on racism, gender and sexuality. The campaigns that focused on public schools’ policies about transgender students often included lurid false claims about schools trying to change students’ gender or “indoctrinating” them into becoming gay. This disinformation sparked harassment and threats against individual teachers, school board members and administrators, with some of the fury coming from within local communities, and even more angry calls, emails and social media posts flooding in from conservative media viewers across the country.

In addition to the financial costs of responding to these targeted campaigns, the study revealed other dynamics, the researchers said. “The attack on public officials as pedophiles was one I heard again and again, from people across extremely different parts of the country: rural, urban, suburban. It speaks to the way that this really is a nationalized conflict campaign,” said John Rogers, an education professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the lead author of the study. The frequency with which both school board members and school superintendents were “being called out as sexual predators – it was really frightening”, Rogers said. Superintendents from across the country told the researchers how these culture battles had affected their schools, and cut into resources they would have preferred to spend on education.

[...] While disagreement, debate and dealing with angry parents are a normal part of local public school administration, the researchers noted, the political campaigns that schools have faced in recent years have been anything but normal. Many of them have been driven by “a small number of active individuals on social media or at school board meetings”, and fueled by misinformation. The school-focused campaigns, which started with claims that elementary and middle schools were harming white students by teaching critical race theory and later shifted to attacks on schools’ policies for transgender students, were nationally organized, with “common talking points” that could be traced back to conservative foundations and rightwing legal organizations, and were intensely amplified by rightwing media coverage, Rogers said.

Public schools across the US burned up nearly $3.2BN worth of money fending off right-wing culture war items such as book bans, anti-LGBTQ+ extremism, anti-student inclusion, and anti-racial equity policies.

See Also:

The Advocate: U.S. public schools lost $3.2 billion fighting conservative culture wars: report

[initialsaint]

Total Drama social media au

Inspired by this post!

Cody replies to every single one of Gwen's tweets. Every single one. He also posts screenshots of his A+ ranks on League.

Heather shills mlms (multi-level marketing schemes)

Katie and Sadie also shill mlms (men loving men.)

Trent tweets like Hozier. He posts about music and theory and vagues about the love of his life (Gwen). His videos of experimental midwest emo guitar tracks get nearly no interaction, but his ONE Ed Sheeran cover blows up. He hates it.

Bridgette posts links to animal activism groups/charities for humanitarian crises, beach photos, and photos of her training for surf competitions- she ended up getting into the competitive scene after TDI.

Geoff's profile is parties, surfing, and shower thoughts. He has an entire saga of posts showcasing him trying to domesticate a dolphin. When he posts about Bridgette (OFTEN) he exclusively refers to her as "the wifey", and "the homey in matrimoney" (he can't spell.)

DJ exclusively posts casual pics with friends and photos of Bunny. His mom follows him and likes every one. He has no idea how to be a Twitter celebrity. He stays in his lane. He is unbothered. Everyone else wishes they were him.

Courtney's account is highly curated, with aesthetic fall photos of big scarves and studying at the library, but her replies and appearances on the others' accounts are UNHINGED.

Gwen's account is a mashup of vibey photos, music, shitposting, and photographic evidence of her committing crimes. You'd think it'd be Duncan, but Gwen posts pics of her urban exploring- haunted buildings, abandoned churches, and anywhere with a "trespassers will be prosecuted" sign.

Duncan's pfp is his fucking mugshot

His profile is chaotic. He posts photos from road trips on his bike, of Brittany (he calls her his daughter), and Courtney. There's multiple videos of him committing felonies. He says every unfiltered thing he feels like posting. He has been banned twice. He posts "slay" and it gets 20k likes.

[vilevexedvixen]

AU Jonathan Crane

In our AU, the presence of metahumans has shifted the balance of power away from corporate entities (such as Lex Corp and WayneTech) and, subsequently, the state (as the two are deeply intwined, especially in the US). Leading to what governing bodies remain looking for more covert means of shifting power back in their favour. Specifically in a way that can be chalked up to spontaneous social phenomena or other thing not directly tied to state intervention.

Seeing Crane's experiments and functional prototype of distilled fear, they see promise in it as a non-lethal and undetectable (beyond the knock-on physiological effects that coincide with a general fear response after initial exposure; the serum itself degrades quickly) crowd control. They grant him much more funding than he could imagine in exchange for developing his at this point purely academic and therapeutic project to study the psychology of fear without having to subject study participants to unethical psychological torture. (In theory, the rapidly degrading toxin would stimulate the response without needed to do anything traumatic to stimulate it - not necessarily considering the toxin itself as such.)

This version of Crane is born with Urbach-Wiethe disease, which prevents a normal fear response often leading him into misadventure as a kid. Even though he couldn't understand it on a visceral level, he began to understand the very sensible role fear played to keep everyone else safe. He'd try to scare himself, train a pavlovian fear repsonse to avoid things he may encounter that could hurt him. He wasn't senseless and could avoid danger where it was obvious, but that visceral gut feeling being absent was palpable. Motivated to understand fear and its application as a non-lethal way to guide people (typically from danger - though in the case of the crowd control fear toxin project it's him picking the lesser of two evils; either a toxin of his own making he knows will pacify people non-lethally, or whatever heart attack in a jar the DC equivalent of the CIA would concoct that would effectively be a larger scale ice-bullet gun).

Crane is a guest-lecturer at Gotham Uni, having been a guest lecturer in the neurochemistry of fear at various universities across the country. His suspiciously short tenure at each place he went to was starting to leave a trail. They would avoid abducting anyone connected to the universities he lectured at, to limit the trail they might leave. In the AU, I wanted Crane's formal development of FT to be through an MK-Ultra like project. People would go missing and show up days or weeks later (if they showed up again at all; which tended to happen more as time went on as the dose was perfected to be minimally lethal while maximally effective). Sometimes catatonic - other times babbling incoherently about what they saw. What few consistencies to come from their accounts sprouted the urban legend of The Scarecrow. Here, it's the amalgamation of whatever people saw while under FT (technically they saw Crane, but not really and certainly wouldn't be able to recognise him) rather than a persona that Crane personally has.

(On a more general note, most of the rogues in our AU get their names from whatever newspaper stories come up with (with a couple exceptions). I also realise it's ironic to have Crane's introduction be through an MK-Ultra equivalent scheme, given the purpose of MK-Ultra was to investigate potential methods of mind control rather than crowd control, but a. Tetch's "mind control" is actually motor control in this AU, b. mind-altering drug testing took place and I felt FT testing would be a fitting parrallel even if the purpose is slightly different.)

[transmutationisms]

hii, do you have any reading recs for where to start in terms of the history of medicine? thank you so much and i adore reading your succession analysis

if you're new to this subfield i would recommend starting out by just thumbing through the cambridge history of medicine (2006, ed. roy porter). you don't have to read every word in here, but definitely the introduction and any chapters that look particularly relevant to your interests. there are also some medical chapters scattered throughout the cambridge history of science volumes. cambridge volumes are often limited to europe and north america, and they're generally not methodologically daring, so you don't want to get stuck on them forever. but as a starting point, they can help you start to recognise a few influential names in the field, and give you a sense of what the history of medicine 'canon' is & draws from.

after that you can start to get more specific. history of medicine is a bit of a misnomer field in that it contains a few distinct-but-overlapping subject areas: histories of diseases themselves (this will cross into history of biology, paleo-virology, molecular archaeology, genetics, &c); histories of sickness (often drawing from affect theory, disability studies, and history of emotions); histories of medical practice and practitioners (philosophy of health and medicine, labour history, studies of class and discipline formation, military history); histories of public health (broader population thinking, archaeology and anthropology, history of hygiene, history of state formation and biopolitics); histories of medical devices and instruments (history of technology, material history, economic and industrial history). you'll also serve yourself well if you have some sense of specific time periods and places you're interested in—not that i'm telling you to be close-minded, but it just helps if you have some idea of what you're looking for.

you are more than welcome to come back and ask about a more specific sub-topic :-) since you've basically given me free reign, i'll just toss out a few histmed books i've particularly enjoyed, in no particular order:

medicalizing blackness: making racial difference in the atlantic world, 1780–1840, by rana hogarth (2017)

the expressiveness of the body and the divergence of greek and chinese medicine, by shigehisa kuriyama (1999)

doctoring traditions: ayurveda, small technologies, and braided sciences, by projit mukharji (2016)

plague and empire in the early modern mediterranean world: the ottoman experience, 1347–1600, by nukhet varlık (2015)

killing the black body: race, reproduction, and the meaning of liberty, by dorothy roberts (1997)

hearing happiness: deafness cures in history, by jaipreet virdi (2020)

pasteur's empire: bacteriology and politics in france, its colonies, and the world, by aro velmet (2020)

contagion: disease, government, and the 'social question' in nineteenth-century france, by andrew aisenberg (1999)

colonial madness: psychiatry in french north africa, by richard keller (2007)

curing the colonizers: hydrotherapy, climatology, and french colonial spas, by eric t jennings (2006)

ideals of the body: architecture, urbanism, and hygiene in postrevolutionary paris, by sun-young park (2018)

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

By: Amanda Borschel-Dan

Published: Oct 5, 2018

The term “Femi-Nazi” became all too accurate when a trio of academic tricksters participating in an elaborate hoax submitted portions of Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” rewritten through a feminist lens to a leading peer-reviewed feminist journal. The satirical paper was accepted this past academic year for publication by Affilia: Journal of Women and Social Work.

The sting operation against academic journals became public this week.

In a truncated year-long project aimed at highlighting the alleged influence of extremist dogma and confirmation bias in academia, the trio wrote 20 farcical “scholarly” papers — three of which were based on rewrites of “Mein Kampf” — for leading cultural studies journals. All 20 of the papers were based on “something absurd or deeply unethical, or both,” the authors have said; seven were accepted for publication.

One of the papers, “Our Struggle is My Struggle: Solidarity Feminism as an Intersectional Reply to Neoliberal and Choice,” was written under the alias Maria Gonzalez, PhD, who claimed to be based out of the fictitious Feminist Activist Collective for Truth (FACT).

According to the real-life authors, “The last two-thirds of this paper is based upon a rewriting of roughly 3,600 words of Chapter 12 of Volume 1 of ‘Mein Kampf,’ by Adolf Hitler, though it diverges significantly from the original. This chapter is the one in which Hitler lays out in a multi-point plan which we partially reproduced why the Nazi party is needed and what it requires of its members.”

Hailing from differing countries and fields, the trio of academics is made up of self-proclaimed liberals who claim to want to fix a broken system, not ban the fields of study themselves: Helen Pluckrose, a UK-based English literature and history scholar; James Lindsay, a math PhD; and Peter Boghossian, a professor of philosophy at Portland State University. The project was documented by Australian filmmaker Mike Nayna, who released a viral YouTube video with an authors statement on the project this week.

The scholars targeted high-ranking humanities journals in the niche subjects they label as “grievance studies.” These relatively new fields, which have become popular in the past 50 years with the rise of the civil and women’s rights movements, examine the lives of the historically and traditionally oppressed: women, racial, religious and cultural minorities, and the LGBT community.

With a steep learning curve, the team quickly took six of their initial attempted hoax papers out of circulation, believing they could do better. After adapting their submissions based on peer reviewers’ comments, within a few months, an unheard of seven absurd papers were accepted. Leading the pack was “research” on rape culture at urban dog parks, which was recognized by leading peer-reviewed feminist geography journal Gender, Place, and Culture as “exemplary scholarship.”

It was skeptical media attention after the publication of the dog parks paper which brought the project, initially scheduled for 18 months, to an abrupt end this summer. All papers are available online, as well as the name-redacted comments of the peer reviewers.

According to the trio of scholars, it is likely that another six fictitious papers would have been accepted for publication as their experiment in “reflexive ethnography” within the world of grievance studies progressed.

Is there any idea so outlandish that it won't be published in a Critical/PoMo/Identity/"Theory" journal? Helen Plucrose et al. submitted a dozen hoax papers to find out. https://t.co/TTDLuIQN9p via @areomagazine — Steven Pinker (@sapinker) October 3, 2018

The trio contends that the fields have been infiltrated by radical and intolerant theories. And what better way to prove their point, they figured, than turning to one of the most extreme manifestos in recent history — “Mein Kampf.”

Mathematician Lindsay told The Times of Israel on Thursday, “We decided to try to rewrite something from something old and nasty, and ‘Mein Kampf’ not only is the pinnacle document, it proved accessible for our methods.”

Theological fire and brimstone writing “didn’t transliterate easily,” Lindsay said. However, “much of ‘Mein Kampf’ is an autoethnography.” This style of self-reflective writing is en vogue in the grievance studies’ academic journals and therefore the substitution of feminist or anti-patriarchal terminology for Hitler’s well-known screed was evidently undetectable to the peer reviewers.

According to a comment from the co-editor of the journal, the reviewers were “supportive of the work and noted its potential to generate important dialogue for social workers and feminist scholars.”

A quest to expose ‘sophistry’

In a long co-bylined essay published Tuesday in Aero Magazine, which Pluckrose edits, the trio wrote that during the course of their experiment, “the reviewers’ comments are in many ways more revealing about the state of these fields than the acceptances themselves.”

The team explained their motivations and methodology: “We set out with three basic rules: (1) we’ll focus almost exclusively upon ranked peer-reviewed journals in the field, the higher the better and at the top of their subdisciplines whenever possible; (2) we will not pay to publish any paper; and (3) if we are asked at any point by a journal editor or reviewer (but not a journalist!) if any paper we wrote is an attempted hoax, we will admit it.”

The basis of each paper was “something absurd or deeply unethical (or both) that we wanted to forward or conclude. We then made the existing peer-reviewed literature do our bidding in the attempt to get published in the academic canon,” they wrote.

[ Perpetrators of an elaborate hoax against academic journals (from left) mathematics Ph.D. James Lindsay, UK academic Helen Pluckrose and philosophy professor Peter Boghossian. (courtesy) ]

“This is the primary point of the project: What we just described is not knowledge production; it’s sophistry. That is, it’s a forgery of knowledge that should not be mistaken for the real thing. The biggest difference between us and the scholarship we are studying by emulation is that we know we made things up,” they wrote.

In undertaking the hoax, the use of satire was often employed. According to the authors, every paper “also endeavored to be humorous in at least some small way (and often, big ones).”

The team was so successful that four journals asked the papers’ fictitious authors to become peer reviewers themselves. For “ethical reasons,” they declined.

The proverbial wheels came off after a Twitter account called “New Real Peer Review” sniffed something foul from the Dog Park essay. Soon, local newspapers became suspicious, and eventually, in cooperation with the hoax team, the Wall Street Journal broke the story this week, with an ever-widening international ripple effect and coverage.

Satire as social commentary

It is not the first time scholars have written hoax papers to illustrate a broken academia. While other fields can be equally guilty of publishing unscientific work, gender studies in particular has already been repeatedly flagged as problematic.

After the current hoax experiment became public this week, author and Harvard lecturer Yascha Mounk proclaimed on Twitter that “Three intrepid academics just perpetrated a giant version of the Sokal Hoax… Call it Sokal Squared. The result is hilarious and delightful. It also showcases a serious problem with big parts of academia.”

In 1996, mathematics and physics Prof. Alan David Sokal submitted a nonsensical paper to Duke University’s Social Text journal called “Transgressing the Boundaries: Toward a Transformative Hermeneutics of Quantum Gravity,” in a (successful) experiment illustrating editorial bias and the prevalent incorrect use of scientific terms.

The Sokal hoax was the basis for a May 2017 experiment when two of the current project’s authors, Boghossian and Lindsay, attempted to replicate his success with the publication of a fake paper that claims “that penises conceptually cause climate change.” They write about the experiment in an essay, “The Conceptual Penis as a Social Construct: A Sokal-Style Hoax on Gender Studies,” which discusses the problematic nature of “pay-to-publish” open access journals.

In September 2017 the duo became a trio with the addition of Pluckrose and the new, much more elaborate project was launched.

According to the scholars, the goal of the current project was not to end the study of these niche academic disciplines, rather highlight the intolerant thinking within their lock-step that is infiltrating popular culture.

Asked by The Times of Israel if academic journals in the field of Jewish Studies would also be in their sights, Lindsay answered that the team didn’t fully examine this particular field. “The grievance studies methods are dubious, and I hope [Jewish Studies scholars] don’t take them up,” he said.

“I’ve only looked closely at one paper in Jewish Studies and it seemed to use similar methods but criticized a nasty streak of antisemitism in critical race scholarship,” he wrote via Twitter, citing a paper called, “Critical Whiteness Studies and the ‘Jewish Problem.'”

The cited paper was written in response to the increasingly trendy theory proposed by Critical Whiteness Studies and promoted by young American Jews on college campuses, social media, and even mainstream Jewish media, that Jews are not “white.”

According to the paper’s abstract, “‘whiteness” is used as a critical concept denoting those who enjoy white privilege in American and other Western societies.” Calling a Jew “white,” however, “is more than controversial, for it assimilates the most persecuted minority in European history to the dominant majority, while downgrading the significance of antisemitism.”

The fact that this type of topic itself is being debated within the ivory tower and infiltrating popular culture is not what appears to bother the scholars. Rather, it is the fact that there are few skeptical and critical checks within peer-reviewed journals and that what they consider to be a “kind of blatant corruption” through confirmation bias is pervasive in the fields.

“Politically biased research that rests on highly questionable premises gets legitimized as though it is verifiable knowledge. It then goes on to permeate our culture because professors, activists, and others cite and teach this ever-growing body of ideologically skewed and fallacious scholarship,” writes the team.

“We managed to get seven shoddy, absurd, unethical and politically biased papers into respectable journals in the fields of grievance studies. Does this show that academia is corrupt? Absolutely not. Does it show that all scholars and reviewers in humanities fields which study gender, race, sexuality and weight are corrupt? No,” they write.

[ Perpetrators of an elaborate hoax against academic journals (from left) mathematics Ph.D. James Lindsay, UK academic Helen Pluckrose and philosophy professor Peter Boghossian. (courtesy) ]

However, when a journal publishes — without revisions — a paper written in under six hours by a man which describes “moon meetings” for women in womb rooms with vulva shrines, it might reasonably be thought that something is deeply amiss. When an essay which promotes the pedagogical boon of silencing and chaining “privileged” pupils to the floor to affect “experiential reparations” is taken under serious consideration and given notes for improvement, one might wonder about the Ivory Tower’s foundations.

The authors are now calling upon universities to conduct a thorough review of the grievance study fields “to separate knowledge-producing disciplines and scholars from those generating constructivist sophistry.”

“Research into these areas is crucial, and it must be rigorously conducted and minimize ideological influences,” they write. “The further results on these topics diverge from reality, the greater chance they will hurt those their scholarship is intended to help.”

--

==

Flashback to the days when this was shocking and hard to believe, rather than ordinary and everyday.

[spaceintruderdetector]

This study is a trans-disciplinary and trans-historical investigation into civilian and battlefield contexts in which speaker systems have been utilised by the military-industrial and military-entertainment complexes to apply pressure to mass social groupings and the individuated body. Drawing on authors such as historian/sociologist Michel Foucault, economist Jacques Attali, philosopher Michel Serres, political geographer/urban planner Edward Soja, musician/sonic theorist Steve Goodman, and cultural theorist/urbanist Paul Virilio, this study engages a wide range of texts to orchestrate its arguments. Conducting new strains of viral theory that resonate with architectural, neurological, and political significance, this research provides new and original analysis about the composition of waveformed geography. Ultimately, this study listens to the ways in which the past and current utilisation of sonic, infrasonic, and ultrasonic frequencies as weapons, apparatus for psychological manipulation, and instruments of physiological influence, by industrial, civilian, entertainment, and military organisations, predict future techniques of sociospatialised organisation.

[oxford-garments]

First Nigerian Republic - Wikipedia

UNRULY SHOTTAS: PORT SYDNEY

Based on the True Story of a Culture Capital. They were the Murder Capital of Latin America, Made a Aussie Accent, Set World Records for Athletics, Printed over £50 Billion in Barbados, and immigrated a Nigerian Rugby Prospect. They made the Kingston-Calabar OT Trafficking Intermodal through Investments for a Trade Agreement and a Highway. Port Sydney Changed from a Fishing Villages to a Port Town.

Port Sydney (Ocho Rios) is a port town on the north coast of Jamaica. A former fishing village, it’s now a resort with a cruise ship harbor and a busy bay beach that’s lined with hotels. The surrounding parish of Saint Ann is home to rainforest, rivers and waterfalls. Dunn’s River Falls is a terraced, 180m mountain waterfall with lagoon pools, surrounded by trees.

Gold Smuggling through a Government Yard and Western Projects Point of View called Slumdog Millionaire: My Richness Is Life.

Philosophy

True Identity

Logotherapy

Having a Leopard’s Heart

Reproduction

Astrology

London Trap Culture

Ethnic Separatism (YARDIE)

African Diaspora

Sub-plots

Decadence

Ogun

Pre-colonial Africa

Trans-atlantic Slave Trade

Warlord-ism

African Drums and Shamanic Drumming

West African Pound

Tech-Driven Solutions Agronomics

Conflict Prevention and Reconstruction Unit

SUN LORD STRUCTURE

A cathedral is a church that contains the cathedra of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate.

Parish Artisanal Plantation

Art Collegiate

Recession Resistance Industry

Marines Exclusive Church for Retirement Home

Rugby Church League on Thursday and Sunday after 5:30 and Noon Virgil; Equipment Sponsor and Free Clinics; Ram Sacrifices for Mars Venerated Athletes

My version of the Heavenly Host. Proxy Murder Government Officials, Judges, and Police Stations with Arcarbine Lords for Urban Warfare.

Westminster System with Executive Branch for Choirs and House of Lords ARCABINE LORDS

Another phrase to describe this obedience to the voice is “reckless abandon.” It simply means that we let God do what God wants to do through us. It means if He tells us to do something or say something—we do it.

Pedagogy (/ˈpɛdəɡɒdʒi, -ɡoʊdʒi, -ɡɒɡi/), most commonly understood as the approach to teaching, is the theory and practice of learning, and how this process influences, and is influenced by, the social, political, and psychological development of learners. Pedagogy, taken as an academic discipline, is the study of how knowledge and skills are imparted in an educational context, and it considers the interactions that take place during learning. Both the theory and practice of pedagogy vary greatly as they reflect different social, political, and cultural contexts.

Augustine's thesis depicts the history of the world as universal warfare between God and the Devil. This metaphysical war is not limited by time but only by geography on Earth. In this war, God moves (by divine intervention, Providence) those governments, political/ideological movements and military forces aligned (or aligned the most) with the Catholic Church (the City of God) in order to oppose by all means—including military—those governments, political/ideological movements and military forces aligned (or aligned the most) with the Devil (the City of the World).

Mekubbalim (followers of Kabbala) claim that the symbol has magical powers. There is no explicit historical or archaeological support for any of those claims. The star consists of two intertwined triangles: one pointing up to God and the other pointing down to man, symbolizing the relationship between the two—"the interpenetration of two realms" (source: Franz Rosenzweig, Star of Redemption, 1912). The animals associated with the Christian tetramorph originate in the Babylonian symbols of the four fixed signs of the zodiac: the ox representing Taurus; the lion representing Leo; the eagle representing Scorpio; the man or angel representing Aquarius. SHIELD OF OBASI!

God of Bethlehem: Regulus; Uranus-Saturn; Pluto Sol, and Venus (Sun Sky God; Elements Sun, Thunder, Air; Cardinal) Crista: Armour of God, Shield of Trinity, Shield of Obasi, Mars Blood, Rose of Venus, Pluto Effect, and Virility Crown; Religion: Tewahedo, Physique: Anabolic Metabolism Insulin Sensitivity, MSTN GENE, Roux en Y FBN1

RUGBY

World Cup Ambassador: In the Commonwealth of Nations, a high commissioner is the senior diplomat, generally ranking as an ambassador, in charge of the diplomatic mission of one Commonwealth government to another. Instead of an embassy, the diplomatic mission is generally called a high commission.

Work Out: Hurdle Plyometrics, Open Closed Chain Resistance Training with Power Sleds, Wall Sit Jump Contrast Training, and Lane Swimming with Treading Breaks for Body Recomposition and Metabolic Resistance Training

Offence: Fly-half And Centre Brigade: Kick Steps, Grubber and Drop Kicks, Crash Balls Mauls (Forearm Shoulder Barge), Clear outs, and Offload Playmaker. First Receiver after Rucks. Three Door Explode: Three Doors as Decision Making Indicator for Down Hill Sprinting; if No Doors Pass the Ball.

Defence: The basic defensive unit in rugby consists of three players. This obviously shifts very quickly, but at the point a tackle is likely, there should be a defender square with the ball carrier and supporting players on either side square with the immediate threats on the ball carrier's left and right. The drift defence is one of the two main types of defensive strategies in rugby (the other being the blitz defence). The basic concept behind the drift defence is to go “up and out” as a defensive line; once the ball carrier has past, the defender marking them should push outward to cover the receiver whilst the rest of the defensive line also shifts outward. Umbrella Defence provides more intensity in front of the ball than flat defence, with flanking support a step behind to cover kicks and recover quickly after a tackle is made. It also makes it easier to stop linebreaks if the player in front of the ball carrier is stepped.

Jack Boys: Players who have the ability to play a number of positions in a team are called utility players.[95] Utility players can be seen as "Jack of all trades"[95] and they generally occupy the reserve position in a team.[96] For this reason, many try to avoid being labelled as utilities.[97][98] Players in the forward positions are generally more specialised than those that play in the backs. However, flankers can usually play number eight, like Grégory Alldritt, David Pocock, Caelan Doris and Kieran Read. Many players may also be capable of playing lock as well as a back-row position, with several modern examples being Sébastien Chabal, Maro Itoje, Tadhg Beirne, Ryan Baird, Courtney Lawes, Steven Luatua, and Cameron Woki, all with international caps in both rows of the scrum. The front row positions are usually very specialised, although some props can play both sides or even hooker.

Quasi BioAesthetics as Topic and Things to Write about:

Gold Iron Calcium Zinc Oxide Hyaluronic Acid Illite Clay Hydrolyzed Collagen BioRNA Cluster

Bone Metabolism are Light but Metal like Aluminum

Pheomelanin Mid Brown Diamond Face

Blonde Hair with Hazel Eyes with Gold Fleeks

Ambidextrous Hand Eye Foot Coordination

Posterior Gross Motor Skills

Crystalized and Fluid Intelligence

Savant Sensory Overload

Sensory Modulits CNS

Omega 3 6 9, Conscientiousness, and Executive Functioning Skills no Amygdala Grey Brain

Stretch Vocal Chords with Tenor Voice

GABA Acetylcholine Receptors Sensitivity

Gnomes (Earth) And Salamanders (Fire)

God of Bethlehem: Regulus; Jupiter; and Venus (Sun Sky God; Elements Sun, Thunder, Air; Cardinal) Crista: Armour of God, Shield of Trinity, Mars Blood, Rose of Venus, Pluto Effect, Tarthatharath, and Virility Crown; Religion: Martyrology Angelican, Physique: Anabolic Metabolism Insulin Sensitivity, MSTN GENE, Roux en Y FBN1

DRUG SORCERY AND PHARMACOECONOMICS (PHARM BOYS AND PHARMA FIRMS)

Pharmaterrorism, in its original context, is understood to refer to the attempts of narcotics traffickers to influence the policies of a government or a society through violence and intimidation, and to hinder the enforcement of anti-drug laws by the systematic threat or use of such violence.

Pharma Maritime economy is a political and economic term applied to countries where all legitimate institutions become penetrated by the power and wealth of the illegal drug trade.

Elements of the maritime industry such as seaports and terminals have always been important areas of social and economic opportunities. Ports are key strategic sectors, playing key economic, internal and international security roles for both developed and developing countries.[9] The strategic importance of ports and other maritime resources have led to the industry being criticized by Maersk, a major shipping company, as "an environment where facilitation payments and extortion are common occurrences".[10] In the EU specifically, coastal regions and major sea ports have shown to present the highest risks of corruption. Europe's coastal borders have increasingly been subject to corruption pressure by smugglers in the past few years. In addition, border guards and local government officials are often involved in corruption schemes related to cross-border trade.Typically, in European small coastal towns, the corruption of border guards is often related to corruption in local authorities.[11] Several ports in Europe have been identified by the Center for the Study of Democracy as having extreme vulnerability to corruption pressures:[11]

Corruption can be defined in various ways. For example, according to the Oxford Dictionary, corruption is “dishonest or illegal behavior, especially of people in authority”.[4] Huntington (1989) defined it somewhat differently, by describing corruption as “the behavior, exhibited by public officials which deviates from accepted norms in order to serve private aims”.[5] These definitions are also correct for maritime corruption specifically, however, in this field corruption can be categorized in different ways – especially at ports.

Sequeira and Djankov (2014) distinguish between two types of corruption at ports: collusive and coercive corruption. Under collusive corruption, public officials and private agents share illicit transaction-generated rents, while under coercive corruption, public bureaucrats force private agents to pay additional fees to be able to gain access to public services and goods.[6]

Pharmacoeconomics refers to the scientific discipline that compares the value of one pharmaceutical drug or drug therapy to another.[1][2] It is a sub-discipline of health economics. A pharmacoeconomic study evaluates the cost (expressed in monetary terms) and effects (expressed in terms of monetary value, efficacy or enhanced quality of life) of a pharmaceutical product. Pharmacoeconomic studies serve to guide optimal healthcare resource allocation, in a standardized and scientifically grounded manner.

Pharmacoeconomics centers on the economic evaluation of pharmaceuticals, and can use cost-minimization analysis, cost-benefit analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis or cost-utility analysis. Quality-adjusted life years have become the dominant outcome of interest in pharmacoeconomic evaluations, and many studies employ a cost-per-QALY analysis. Economic evaluations are carried out alongside randomized controlled trials and using methods of decision-analytic modeling. Pharmacoeconomics is a useful method of economic evaluation of various treatment options. As more expensive drugs are being developed and licensed it has become imperative especially in context of developing countries where resources are scarce to apply the principles of pharmacoeconomics for various drugs and treatment options so that maximum improvement in quality of life can be achieved in minimum cost.[3]

A tablet press is a mechanical device that compresses powder into tablets of uniform size and weight. A tablet press can be used to manufacture tablets of a wide variety of materials, including pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, cleaning products, industrial pellets and cosmetics.

A cough syrup filling machine is designed to fill liquid in any viscosity, including syrup. There are many types of syrup-filling machines, such as vacuum, servo, pump, gravity, pressure, piston, and counting filling machines.

NIGERIAN POUND

The pound was the currency of Nigeria between 1907 and 1973. Until 1958, Nigeria used the British West African pound, after which it issued its own currency. The pound was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence. The Nigerian pound, at parity with sterling with free convertibility,[1] was replaced in 1973 with the decimal naira at a rate of £1 = ₦2,[2] making Nigeria the last country to abandon the pre-decimal £sd currency system.

The House of Representatives (also called Green Chamber) is the lower chamber of Nigeria's bicameral National Assembly.[1] The Senate is the upper chamber.[2]

The First Republic was the republican government of Nigeria between 1963 and 1966 governed by the first republican constitution. The country's government was based on a federal form of the Westminster system.

An index fund (also index tracker) is a mutual fund or exchange-traded fund (ETF) designed to follow certain preset rules so that it can replicate the performance of ("track") a specified basket of underlying investments.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) are quantifiable measurements used to gauge a company’s overall long-term performance. Organizations use KPIs to track their progress on key business objectives.

ARCABINE LORDS

[sera-fable]

Thought Provoking Books & Books That Have Important Voices! Pt. 6

51. Hidden Figures by Margot Lee Shetterfly (Biographical Drama and Autobiography/Racism/Discrimination/Civil Rights Movement/Relationship Between Scientific Progress and Social Progress/Space Race)

52. The Mires by Tina Makereti (Contemporary Fiction/Nature/Power of Neighborhood/New Zealand Voice)

53. The Spider and Her Demons by Sydney Khoo (YA Urban Fantasy/Self Discovery/Body-Image/Acceptance/LGBTQ+/Intergenerational Trauma)

54. Study for Obediance by Sarah Bernstein (Dark Novel/Identity/Xenophobia/Guilt/Survival/Antisemitism)

55. How to Be Eaten by Maria Adelmann (Fantasy/Fiction/Adult/Exploration of Trauma and Healing/Classic Fairytale Characters as Modern Women/Dark/Magical Realism/Feminism)

56. The Goodbye Cat by Hiro Arikawa (Literary Fiction/Short Stories/Relationship Between Cats and Their Owners/Cycle of Life/Family/Love/Grief)

57. The Origin of Species by Charles Darwin (Theory of Evolution and Natural Selection/Scientific Literature/Controversey and Social Implications/Natural Processes)

58. The Holy Bible by Anonymous (Biblical Literature/Theology/God's Nature/God's Covenant/Works of Creation/Fall/Redemption/Consumation)

59. Maus by Art Speigelman (Mix of Genres/Memoir/Biography/History/Graphic Novel/The Halocaust/Family/Identity)

60. Pagans and Christians by Robin Lane Fox (Scholarly Work/Paganism and Christianity in Roman Empire/Transition and Comparison/Constantine/Late Classical Religion/Religion)

[lboogie1906]

Dr. Abram Lincoln Harris, Jr. (January 17, 1899 – November 6, 1963) the grandson of enslaved, was the first nationally recognized Black economist. He was respected for his work that focused primarily on class analysis, Black economic life, and labor to illustrate the structural inadequacies of race and racial ideologies. His major published works include The Negro Population in Minneapolis: A Study of Race Relations, The Black Worker: the Negro and the Labor Movement, and a book co-authored, The Negro as Capitalist, and the final book, Economics and Social Reform.

He was a Marxist scholar and his theories influenced his work. His The Black Worker was recognized as the foundation for future economic histories and assessments of the Black condition. The Negro as Capitalist argued that non-racial economic reforms were the key to solving Black fiscal woes. He argued that capitalism was morally bankrupt and that employing race consciousness as a strategic way to enlighten the public was self-defeating. W.E.B. described him as one of the “Young Turks” who challenged the existing historical theories about Blacks in a capitalist society while insisting upon using modern social scientific methods to further his analyses of African American life.

Born in Richmond, Virginia to Abram Lincoln Harris, Sr., a butcher, and Mary Lee, a teacher. He earned a BS from Virginia Union University.

He enrolled at the New York School of Social Work and worked for the National Urban League and the Messenger. He taught for one year at the West Virginia Collegiate Institute and earned an MA from the University of Pittsburgh. He was appointed head of the Department of Economics at Howard University and completed his doctorate in economics from Columbia University. He married Callie McGuinn (1925-55). He married Phedorah Prescott (1962).

He was selected by the Swedish economist Gunnar Myrdal as an “insider” to work on his groundbreaking study An American Dilemma. He began to retreat from his earlier work, progressive and race politics and began to concentrate on economic philosophy. #africanhistory365 #africanexcellence

[j2memories]

The New York Times article (April 18th, 2014)

Eternal Life, Thanks to Angels and Abs

By Mike Hale

April 18, 2014

SURREY, British Columbia — The first episode of the scary-monster show “Supernatural,” in which a college student came home and found his girlfriend on the ceiling, roasting like a blond marshmallow, was shown by the WB network on Sept. 13, 2005.

Since then quite a few shows have come and gone — “Breaking Bad,” “Friday Night Lights,” “30 Rock,” “Dexter,” to name a few — but “Supernatural” is still here, now on CW on Tuesday nights. Midway through its ninth demon-stabbing, vampire-decapitating, angel-ganking season, it’s the sixth-longest-running drama currently in prime time — and it’s already been renewed for another season.

How does a show that gets relatively little attention and even less credit in the age of the prime-time drama find itself on a short list with series like “Law & Order: SVU” and “Grey’s Anatomy”? We went to the suburbs of Vancouver, where the 190th episode was being shot, to ask. Here are some possibilities.

It’s about the hair.

Between takes at the seedy-motel location — an actual seedy motel here, about 40 minutes south of Vancouver, just above the American border — several young women trot out and run their fingers through the hair of the stars, Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki.

“The way my hair is, if I get out of the shower and put a beanie on or something, it just kind of lays,” said Mr. Padalecki, whose leonine tresses are one of the show’s trademarks. “But it doesn’t lay well for the camera, because it’ll cover” — he gestures to his face — “the thing.”

Mr. Ackles, whose laugh is like the crack of the show’s magic Colt revolver, said, “I’m fairly certain that that mop is solely responsible for the 10th-season pickup.”

It’s about the brothers.

Mr. Ackles and Mr. Padalecki play Dean and Sam Winchester, brothers with a family tradition of demon hunting. Mr. Ackles was 26 and Mr. Padalecki 22 when the show began, and they are “Supernatural” — conversations with co-stars, show runners and network and studio presidents always come around to Jensen and Jared, Jared and Jensen.

In the motel parking lot, through endless takes in the February chill, they set the tone, joking with the crew, then discussing with the director how to block a scene in which they’re thrown against their black 1967 Impala by the flick of an angel’s finger.

“At the end of the day we have a very good understanding that a lot of it comes down to he and I, and how we relate to each other on- and off-screen,” Mr. Ackles said. “That was impressed upon us very early on by Eric Kripke,” the show’s creator. “He sat us down the first episode and said, ‘Listen, guys, this begins and ends with you.’ ”

It’s about Joseph Campbell. And masculinity.

Misha Collins plays the naïve but deadly angel Castiel, the Winchesters’ mascot and fellow warrior. He studied social theory at the University of Chicago and worked in the Clinton White House and he’s a very smart man, so we should probably listen: “The show deals with universally appealing mythology story lines, the kind of stuff that Joseph Campbell would be proud to see on television,” he said, “but grounds it in personal relationships.”

“It’s really a show about boys becoming men,” he added. “It’s about manhood and these guys who vacillate between testosterone-infused knife fights and gun battles and then crying on one another’s shoulders, having their intimate brotherhood-of-men moments. And I think that’s something you don’t see that much of on television.”

And angels.

“It used to be about guys on the road hunting urban legends,” Mr. Padalecki said, referring to the first four or five seasons sketched out by Mr. Kripke, who pitched the show as “Route 66” meets “The X-Files.” “And then angels came in,” he added, and that annoyed them. “We’re like: ‘We didn’t sign up for a religious show. I don’t want to make a statement on angels. I came to do “X-Files.” ’ But it’s kept on finding new ground.”

Robert Singer, the series’s longtime show runner, said: “The biggest tipping point was the introduction of angels. It seemed to be a natural place to go once we’d gone so far into demon stories.”

It’s about Netflix.

As with many other shows these days, everyone involved credits online streaming of past seasons for increasing current viewership. “We’ve had a real jump in teenagers who are watching the show,” Mr. Singer said. “They were 5 or 6 when it started, and they didn’t know the show from Adam. The fact that they can go back and see it from the beginning and get themselves invested to watch it now is a big thing.”

It’s about beefcake.

Mr. Padalecki is 6-foot-5, Mr. Ackles is 6 feet, and together they are, as Mr. Padalecki puts it, “400 pounds of dude.” Misha Collins said, “Yeah, I think we would be lying to ourselves if we weren’t admitting that that’s an aspect of this dynamic.”

The Winchesters politely demur. Mr. Padalecki: “As flattering as that is, out of 190 episodes I think I’ve taken my shirt off less than 10 times.” Mr. Ackles: “We probably keep our clothes on more than any other show on this network.”

But what the heck. “If people watch because Jensen’s handsome or they like my hair, and then they say, ‘This is a really cool show, they really put their heart and soul into this and I’ll tune in again,’ fine,” Mr. Padalecki said. “Whatever gets them in the seats, right?”

It’s about the fans.

Whether it’s angels, abs or both, the cast members spend part of every summer break traveling around the world to “Supernatural” fan conventions.

“When we go to São Paulo for a convention and there are 50 people camped out on the hotel doorstep just waiting to get a glimpse of us,” Mr. Collins said, “and when we go into the halls and there are 1,500 or 2,000 people and the screaming will be so deafening we have to cover our ears — it’s like we have this one moment where you can feel like you’re a Beatle. And then you get to go about your normal life the rest of the year.”

Not all fans are content simply to attend conventions. Some of them want to take a hand in the story, and their fan fiction can explore areas mostly untouched on the show, like the latent homoerotic suggestiveness of the Winchesters’ intense relationship. Asked if he reads any of this material, Mr. Ackles said: “I don’t. I know it’s out there, and I’m, I’m — the people that have asked me about it are well aware that I would rather not know about that.”

It’s about humility.

The Winchesters — that is, Mr. Ackles and Mr. Padalecki — are enthusiastic and accommodating interview subjects, seeking out a reporter at every break to talk up their underdog show, finishing each other’s sentences, always agreeing. They reflect their characters, or vice versa: Mr. Ackles is the quiet, watchful older brother, keeping an eye on the eagerly talkative Mr. Padalecki.

Jensen: “We both had strong fathers who instilled a good work ethic in us.”

Jared: “And I think a gratitude for the work. And there’s certainly times — ”

Jensen: “A respect — ”

Jared: “A respect for everybody — ”

Jensen: “And humble.”

Jared: “There have been times when I’ve let myself get overwhelmed with, ‘Oh, I feel so overworked.’ And Ackles has been like: ‘Dude. Remember.’ And I’m like, ‘Oh yeah.’ ”

It’s about the future.

“Supernatural” is projected to hit the 200-episode milestone next season; a pilot for a spinoff series, “Supernatural: Bloodlines,” will be shown April 29. How long can the magic last?

“As long as these numbers keep up, and as long as these guys want to do it, ‘Supernatural’ will stay on the air,” said Mark Pedowitz, president of CW. If he doesn’t keep the promise, there’s a 12-inch angel dagger with his name on it.

Link to the article

[shamandrummer]

168 New Nazca Geoglyphs Discovered

More than 100 new designs discovered in and around Peru's Nazca plain and surrounding areas could bring new information to light about the ancient artworks that have intrigued scientists and visitors for decades. Following two years of field surveys with aerial photos and drones, Peruvian and Japanese researches from Yamagata University reported the discovery of 168 new designs at the Unesco World Heritage site on Peru's southern Pacific coast.

The geoglyphs, huge figures carved into the South American desert, date back more than 2,000 years and depict living creatures, stylized plants and imaginary beings, as well as geometric figures several kilometres long. Jorge Olano, head archaeologist for the Nazca Lines research program, said the newly discovered figures averaged between 2 and 6 meters (6.56 to 19.7ft) in length.

The purpose of the Nazca Lines, which could only be seen from the air, remains a mystery. These new findings, however, are smaller and can be seen from the ground. The figures, iconic vestiges of Peru's rich history, are about a three-hour drive from the capital, Lima. Researchers had already discovered 190 figures in the area since 2004. But the vastness of the terrain they cover has complicated efforts to study and conserve the heritage site.

Yamagata University said the research will be used in artificial intelligence-based surveys to help inform the lines' preservation. Studies from the university in collaboration with Peru's government have helped delineate and protect the area, which is facing threats from urban and economic developments. Some geoglyphs are in danger of being destroyed due to the recent expansion of mining-related workshops in the archaeological park.

Anthropologists, ethnologists, and archaeologists have studied the ancient Nazca culture to try to determine the purpose of the lines and figures. One hypothesis is that the Nazca people created them to be seen by deities in the sky. Another theory is related to astronomy and cosmology, as has been common in monuments of other ancient cultures: the lines were intended to act as a kind of observatory, to point to the places on the distant horizon where the sun and other celestial bodies rose or set at the solstices.

Other theories were that the geometric lines could indicate water flow or irrigation schemes, or be a part of rituals to "summon" water. The spiders, birds, and plants may be fertility symbols. It also has been theorized that the lines could act as an astronomical calendar, as proved by the presence of radial centers aligned along the directions of winter solstice and equinox sunset. Researchers believe that the geoglyphs were the venues of events linked to the agriculture calendar. These also served to strengthen social cohesion among various groups of pilgrims, sharing common ancestors and religious beliefs.

[ancient-reveala-1976]

the benefits of positive social capital formations via arts

IntroductionIn recent years, there has been a growing interest in the relationship between positive social capital formations and the arts. Social capital refers to the networks, relationships, and trust that exist within a community, while the arts encompass a wide range of creative expressions that have the power to foster connections and inspire change. By examining the ways in which the arts can contribute to the development of social capital, we can gain insight into the mechanisms through which communities can build resilience, foster cooperation, and promote well-being. This research seeks to demonstrate the tangible benefits that accrue from investing in positive social capital formations via arts-based initiatives, shedding light on the transformative potential of creative expression in strengthening social bonds and enhancing community cohesion.

Understanding Social Capital in the Context of ArtsUnderstanding social capital in the context of arts is crucial for recognizing the intertwined relationship between cultural participation and social cohesion. Social capital, defined as the networks, relationships, and norms that facilitate collective action, can be fostered and strengthened through engagement in artistic endeavors. By participating in arts activities, individuals create bonds with others who share similar interests, forming a sense of community and belonging. These connections can lead to increased trust, reciprocity, and social support within a group, ultimately contributing to the development of positive social capital . Moreover, arts engagement has been shown to bridge social divides, promote diversity, and enhance communication among diverse groups (Dario Castiglione et al., 2008-04-17). Therefore, exploring how the arts can cultivate social capital offers valuable insights into its potential benefits for fostering inclusive and cohesive societies.

The Positive Impact of Social Capital Formations through ArtsThe Positive Impact of Social Capital Formations through Arts lies in its ability to foster cultural heritage, educational value, and promote environmental and social responsibility within a community. Drawing on postmodern cultural theory and the principles of the Triple Bottom Line, arts engagement not only enriches individuals aesthetically but also contributes to the holistic development of society. Postmodern music culture has introduced new concepts and experiences to vocal art, reflecting the societal shifts towards deconstruction and anti-traditional ideologies (Tao Liu, 2018). Moreover, the Triple Bottom Line framework emphasizes the importance of economic, environmental, and social responsibilities for enterprises, highlighting the sustainability and ethical dimensions of social capital formation through arts (Qun Wang, 2016). By integrating these insights, the positive impact of arts in fostering social capital formations is evident in promoting cultural understanding, sustainable practices, and responsible governance, thus enhancing the overall well-being of a community.

Case Studies Demonstrating the Benefits of Positive Social Capital Formations via ArtsThe exploration of case studies reveals the transformative power of positive social capital formations through the arts. Johnson's analysis of cities like Glasgow, Bilbao, Singapore, and Geelong illustrates how the arts can activate individuals, rebuild communities, enliven the polity, aid physical regeneration, and reorient economies, highlighting the instrumental role of the arts in addressing economic and social challenges. By delving into the historical contexts of these cities and their unique approaches to cultural strategies, Johnson emphasizes the importance of sustainable arts agendas that distribute benefits equitably and minimize adverse impacts on urban landscapes. These case studies exemplify how cities, particularly those experiencing economic or social decline, leverage the arts to rejuvenate their societies, foster community engagement, and promote long-term cultural, political, and economic sustainability. Through these examples, the profound impact of positive social capital formations via the arts emerges as a catalyst for urban revitalization and societal transformation.

Implications for Society and Policy RecommendationsThe implications of positive social capital formations through the arts extend beyond individual well-being to influence society at large. As Beacom et al. (cite7) suggest, effective governance strategies are essential in navigating systemic risks that impact sustainable development, with a particular focus on societal transformation processes. Considering the interconnectedness of agents within systems and the homomorphism of systemic risks across various domains, such as migration phenomena, a scientific approach rooted in complexity science is crucial for informing policy decisions. By recognizing the potential for arts-based activities to enhance social capital and foster community cohesion, policymakers can leverage these positive elements to address societal challenges. Policy recommendations should prioritize the integration of arts initiatives into broader social and economic strategies, thereby harnessing the transformative power of creative expression to build resilient and inclusive societies. Informed by empirical evidence and theoretical frameworks, such policy interventions hold promise in promoting sustainable development and mitigating systemic risks associated with social dynamics.

ConclusionIn conclusion, the findings of this study underscore the significant benefits that positive social capital formations through engagement with the arts can bring to communities. By fostering connections, trust, and mutual support among individuals, arts-based social capital can contribute to improved well-being, mental health, and overall quality of life. Through avenues such as community arts programs, festivals, and workshops, individuals are provided with opportunities for self-expression, creativity, and collaboration, which in turn can strengthen social ties and networks. Furthermore, the cultivation of shared values, understanding, and empathy that often result from participation in arts-based activities can help to bridge divides and promote social cohesion within diverse communities. Thus, investing in and supporting the arts as a means of building social capital can have far-reaching positive effects on individuals and communities alike.

[rachellaurengray]

Habitat Theory

Habitat Theory is a concept primarily used in ecology and anthropology to describe how the environment influences the behavior, distribution, and evolution of organisms. While the term can be applied broadly, I'll focus on its use in two main areas: ecological habitat theory and anthropological habitat theory. This is all symbolic to the energy signature.

1. Ecological Habitat Theory

Definition: In ecology, Habitat Theory suggests that the physical environment (or habitat) plays a crucial role in shaping the behavior, distribution, and survival of species. This theory emphasizes how organisms are adapted to specific environmental conditions and how changes in these conditions can impact their populations and interactions.

Key Concepts:

Habitat Selection: Organisms select habitats that meet their needs for food, shelter, and reproduction. This selection is based on both biotic factors (like the presence of predators or competitors) and abiotic factors (like temperature, moisture, and soil type).

Niche Differentiation: Within a habitat, different species may occupy different niches or roles. This differentiation helps reduce competition and allows multiple species to coexist in the same habitat.

Adaptation: Over time, organisms evolve adaptations that make them better suited to their specific habitat. These adaptations can be physical (like camouflage or specialized feeding structures) or behavioral (like migratory patterns or mating rituals).

Habitat Change and Conservation: Changes in the habitat, such as deforestation, climate change, or urbanization, can lead to shifts in species distributions and even extinctions. Conservation efforts often focus on preserving or restoring habitats to protect biodiversity.

2. Anthropological Habitat Theory

Definition: In anthropology, Habitat Theory is used to understand how human cultures interact with their environments. This theory examines how the physical and social environment influences human behavior, social organization, and cultural practices.

Key Concepts:

Environmental Determinism: This older concept suggests that the physical environment shapes human cultures and behaviors. While this idea has been criticized for being overly simplistic, it highlights the importance of environmental factors in shaping societies.

Cultural Adaptation: Humans adapt to their environments through technology, social structures, and cultural practices. For example, the development of agriculture allowed societies to thrive in various environments, leading to the rise of complex civilizations.

Resource Utilization: How cultures use and manage resources is influenced by their environment. For example, societies in arid regions may develop irrigation techniques, while those in temperate regions might focus on hunting and gathering or agriculture.

Human-Environment Interaction: The relationship between humans and their environment is dynamic. Human activities can alter landscapes, and environmental changes can, in turn, affect human societies. Understanding this interaction is crucial for sustainable development and addressing environmental challenges.

Applications:

Ecology: Habitat Theory helps ecologists understand species distributions, behaviors, and conservation needs. It informs habitat management practices and restoration projects.

Anthropology: In anthropology, it provides insights into how human societies adapt to and modify their environments, influencing everything from settlement patterns to economic systems.

In summary, Habitat Theory across different disciplines emphasizes the importance of the environment in shaping the behavior, distribution, and evolution of organisms, whether they are plants, animals, or humans. Understanding these interactions helps in conservation efforts, resource management, and the study of human cultures.

[illeaadante]

Concept: the Alien Legendarium

We (the people in the Humans are Weird fandom) have touched on humans love of story and storytelling despite medium, but what I don't think we've really gone into is just how much.

And especially stories from other cultures. Every kid I knew growing up went through a(t least) a phase of obsession over different mythologies. I myself have a deep love of all fairytales.

So, maybe Aliens would be surprised at how much we love stories and how many stories we tell and retell, especially to them. What if other alien cultures didn't share their stories? Their histories, sure, that's necessary for politics and stuff, but what if they never thought to be interested in each other's myths or religions.

We all know that would never fly with humans. The first time someone caught a whiff of a culture's founding myth or creation story there would be at least a small, dedicated group of humans ready to ferret out every version they could get their little raccoon hands on.

Even more interesting if an alien culture doesn't seem to have any myths, legends, or urban legends. I honestly can't imagine a society without things like local ghost stories or religious conspiracy theories, so seeing one, or at least one that appears to not have any of those things, would be fascinating.

Of course, my definition of legend is very broad, so, for instance, it would be incredibly funny for an alien to come up against some of the common social myths. (The first alien to take an exam with a bunch of humans and hear "Y'know that if someone dies during an exam, everyone else gets an A. So, who's takin' one for the team?" definitely almost has a heart attack.) And, and! the aliens know that plenty of humans are alien/monster fuckers, but they're absolutely flabbergasted at the idea that the humans want to fuck their monsters??? Like, the ones from their mythologies??? How did you even know what a Xin'krakx is much less what it looks like?

I'm digressing a bit. Think of how strange humans would seem though, if aliens suddenly had to figure out how to deal with converts to their religions? They go out to see a movie and it's a human retelling of their creation myth that most of them barely know, so how did the human know about it?

And then! The aliens start hearing their own stories, songs written about their folk heroes and legendary kings, seeing artwork and religious writings hundreds of light years away from their home. How did it get there? The humans liked it. Your culture's creation myth is now written down in this beautifully illuminated and hand bound leather tome in both a human language and your native language.

Imagine the confusion.

Imagine the culture clash.

Imagine the space sjws who are convinced that making a short film based on a myth from an alien culture is appropriative, despite the people from the culture in question having no problem with it other than being perplexed at why the humans care about heroes that aren't human or otherwise from earth and from their own stories.

And of course, humans being humans, we would do what we do and collect all of these myths in one place. I can imagine that each alien culture would have at least one volume of legends translated into a human language each that are constantly getting new additions when the researchers resurface. The Aarne-Thompson-Uther multilingual folktale database expands rapidly as well as any cryptid compendiums. Children start going through Andromeda-6 and Corscal-14 mythology phases as well as greek or egyptian or japanese or aztec.

And we do what we also do, and we mix up those stories. We retell them and mash them together regardless of cultural origin. We tell them and retell them and many of us dedicate our lives to studying and learning about them and what they can tell us about the perceptions of the early culture and their values and experiences.

Idk, I just think it'd be interesting.

[transmutationisms]

Hi hi, have you read the book 'Queering Bathrooms: Gender, Sexuality, and the Hygienic Imagination' by Sheila L. Cavanagh? Would love to hear ur thoughts on it if so, I'm considering thrifting a copy !

i gutted it a few years back. full disclosure, i just wasn't really looking for a sociological text and i felt frustrated by that limitation in the book. it's kind of ironic to use foucault for this type of study given that foucault's main insight was in encouraging historical critique and historicisation; cavanagh invokes his theorisation of discipline, but doesn't deal with its historically specific elements (namely that this is a framework developed wrt northwestern europe in the 18th and 19th centuries) and isn't able to comment on processes of historical change or development. similarly, she invokes freudian psychoanalysis as a kind of transhistorical science, failing to attend to its cultural and historical specificities. to be blunt, 21st-century north america is not 20th-century vienna or 19th-century france; it's not that freud and foucault have nothing to say about the former, but without attention to temporal trends and changes, you lose sight of how and why present cultural beliefs and forms came to exist, and it's easy to overstate your case in terms of the extent to which a social theory developed in an entirely other context is applicable. freud was not a historian and foucault was barely one and generally a bad one; to use his work even in discussing 19th-century france (his case study) requires some serious legwork to address his theoretical lacunae and methodological shortcomings. i simply would not import that specific model of discipline into a different time period and place without writing, like, entire treatises first to examine how and in what ways it's applicable.

i don't mean to single cavanagh out here; i don't read much in sociology because my critiques are basically always versions of the above, lol. in this particular case, it's also worth pointing out that her interview subjects were, like, 60 americans and canadians who were mostly white and middle/upper class, so on top of the theoretical issues (& theory is the bulk of the book), i think the actual sociological work is also pretty limited. i generally agree with the broad outlines of cavanagh's viewpoint, but i just don't find the scholarship particularly helpful, especially as it struggles to move from the experiences of a very small number of individuals into commentary on larger (historical and contemporary) trends of waste management, gender segregation, and transphobia.

if you would be interested in historicised texts on bathrooms and waste management that use psychoanalytic and foucauldian theory in ways i find more useful and justified, i love the following:

public city/public sex: homosexuality, prostitution, and urban culture in nineteenth-century paris, by andrew ross

examines the embourgeoisement of urban culture in 19th-century paris and argues that the seeking of public sex, both by sex workers and gay men, shaped the city and the use of public spaces, including public urinals

history of shit, by dominique laporte, tr. nadia benabid & rodolphe el-khoury

a classic; uses psychoanalytic and historical-genealogical frameworks to analyse the development of sanitation techniques in western europe and the role these played in long-term developments in capitalism, nationalism, and urbanisation

paris sewers and sewermen: representations and realities, by donald reid

broader focus on paris's whole sewer system, but does also discuss bathrooms; mixes elements of cultural history and labour history, and interrogates the meanings imputed to sewers and those employed maintaining them in literary and political discourses, focussing on the 19th and early 20th centuries