Social Science Forum 102 (XXXIX)
Local government and covid-19 management in a local context: empirical research on the views of citizens, town councillors, and officials in Tuscany
Leopoldina Fortunati, Manuela Farinosi in Laura Pagani
ABSTRACT: This study is focused on a small village in Tuscany and explores how citizens evaluate the actions and communication strategies applied by the local government during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study adopted a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods: semi-structured interviews with local a ministrators, and a survey with a representative sample of the local population. The findings show a limitedly articulated yet meaningful relationship between the central administration and the local one, a positive evaluation by citizens of the local government’s management of the emergency and, generally, good
social cohesion, albeit not fully supported by the engagement of civic cultures that were heavily restricted by the socially restrictive measures imposed during
the pandemic.
KEY WORDS: local administration, municipality, citizenship, pandemic management, COVID-19
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Beyond the Reduction of Religion to Belief: Why we Should Conceptualise the Body in the Study of Religion
Igor Jurekovič
ABSTRACT: The paper demonstrates why reducing religion to a belief is analytically incorrect. First, we point to a social consensus that views religion primarily as a matter of belief. Further, we show that this consensus is shared by one of the most popular research programmes in the sociology of religion – rational choice theory Second, we argue the consensus should be reconsidered in light of recent research on embodied religion and Charismatic Christianity. The former reveals that the workings of human cognition cannot be separated from the body. Moreover, the example of Charismatic Christianity represents a globally popular religion
characterised by its distinctly corporeal character. Based on these examples, the text concludes by making a call for an epistemological break in the light of
current and projected changes in religious demography.
KEY WORDS: religion, belief, body, Charismatic Christanity, embodied religion
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"BL" (Boy Love), "GL" (Girl Love) and female communities of practice and affect in South Korea
Aljoša Pužar
ABSTRACT: The main purpose of this article is to trace the destiny of the homoerotic narrative genres of BL (Boy Love) and GL (Girl Love) in the South Korean context and, more precisely, to determine the impact of this family of genres on South Korean gendered reality. The paper presents an overview and a small selection of ethnographic voices related to the genres while trying to understand the specific local conditions of the production and consumption that have ensured BL and GL have had a lasting influence in South Korea among pop-cultural audiences and female creators.
KEY WORDS: Boy love, Girl love, South Korea, community of practice, community of affect
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Fugitive witnessing: stories of Indonesian Migrant Workers
Noel Christian A. Moratilla
ABSTRACT: Policies on migrant workers are characterised by competing frameworks of governance that do not necessarily protect migrants. Despite their vulnerability, however, migrant workers also possess agential capacities. Guided by the concept of “fugitive witnessing”, I discuss excerpts from the book “Bantay-Salakay: Anthology of Short Stories by Domestic Workers in Singapore, Hongkong and Taiwan” (Mga Bantay-Salakay: Antolohiya ng Maiikling Kuwento ng mga In-
donesian Domestic Worker sa Singapore, Hongkong, at Taiwan), a collection of stories originally in Bahasa Indonesia and translated into Filipino. Specifically,
I problematise how stories written by Indonesian domestic helpers reveal and negotiate varied aspects of migration. The paper concludes that stories of subal-
tern groups within the diaspora may serve as complex and discursive means to assess, interrogate and reform the contemporary phenomenon of labour mobility.
KEY WORDS: Indonesian migration, migrant stories, migrants’ rights, diaspora
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Between home and the world: (banal) nationalism and representations of a nation in Slovenian folk-pop music
Ksenija Šabec
ABSTRACT: This paper examines the concept of banal nationalism as often unconscious, routine processes that nations reproduce on a daily basis. Banal nationalism is recognisable in the use of national symbols but also in language and culture. The purpose of this paper is to determine whether Slovenian folk-pop music is one of these processes, and in which ways and strategies we can detect its reproductive role in banal nationalism that on a daily basis reminds its listeners of their national identities. Methodologically, the article is based on the content and a textual analysis of compositions by three of the most often listened to folk-pop ensembles, demonstrating that the national narrative can be identified in a smaller proportion of all analysed compositions in three sections: the idea of nation as an imaginary community or home(land), national (auto)stereotypes, and patriotic feelings.
KEY WORDS: banal nationalism, Slovenian folk-pop music, nation, stereotypes, homeland
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Book reviews
- Tim Krhlanko: Ulrich Brand in Markus Wissen: Imperialni način življenja: vsakdanje življenje in ekološka kriza kapitalizma.
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