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Young Muslim women on Nadiya Hussain, turbanisation and the politics of respectability: navigating public space and Islamophobia
Full text linkUsing the changing image of British celebrity and Great British Bake Off winner Nadiya Hussain as a catalyst for exploration, we consider young British Muslim women’s attitudes and practices towards the turbanisation of the hijab and the politics of respectability. Drawing on focus group data with young Muslim women based in London, England, we examine this sartorial practice, which Nadiya Hussain represents in her celebrity career, and argue two overlapping points. First, the adoption of a turban style of hijab is considered by our participants to be a more contemporary form of veiling, and more palatable to white and non-Muslim audiences. It is perceived to obscure their religious identity, affording them a greater level of respectability, enabling them to traverse often burdensome representations of their faith, racialisation and Islamophobia encountered in the public sphere. Second, while the turban allows for respectability in the context of white society, the women doubt if it is ‘proper hijab’, and thus turbanisation presents a potential challenge to their religious respectability. As such, the article contributes to theoretical debates concerning respectability and appearance, showcasing the complexity of managing the expectations of religious practice and white society for young British Muslim women. It reveals the significance of turbanisation as a tool for acquiescing and merging into the dominant white society for these women, and it emphasises the intersections between fashion, celebrity, religion and race
The subject, the worker, and the slave reification, capitalism, and the divestment of reason from freedom
Full text linkThis article traces a line of thought through a reading of Lukács to suggest that the promise of Enlightenment modernity to emancipate thought from extrahuman authority is an impossibility because the problem of sovereignty returns in the form of the problem of freedom. The authority to make ourselves responsible, and act according to norms of our own making is the keystone feature of philosophical modernity. But this capacity to self-determine requires that the normative compels itself alone. This is a central problem for social pragmatism, which claims heir to Kant and Hegel’s enlightenment. Lukács exacerbates this, pointing both to how capitalism enmeshes us within its sociomaterial systems and how this foregrounds worker’s practical enactment within those systems. This casts doubt on the possibility of detangling norms from power required for autonomy. But rather than follow this line of thought, Lukács foregrounds the split subjectivity of the worker as the material limit of determination. Instead, in confrontation not with the figure of the worker but the slave as reified and naturalised category we might disarticulate reason from freedom in pursuit of the immanent disentangling of thought from the problems of sovereign authority that modernity promised
The Art of Peace? Dêudã Culture and Its Role in Community ‘Peacebuilding’ in Nepal’s Far-western Communities
Full text linkTraditional peacebuilding in post-conflict settings often prioritises political settlements and institutional reforms, frequently overlooking the role of cultural expression in fostering trust, solidarity, and healing. This thesis examines Dêudã culture – a song, dance, and storytelling tradition from Nepal’s Far-western region –
as a participatory practice that supports emotional connection and social cohesion after conflict. Rooted in local customs, Dêudã culture has historically enabled collective reflection and unity, particularly during and after Nepal’s Maoist conflict, through shared embodied experiences (Stirr, 2012; Air, 2023; Upadhyaya, 2024). Drawing on Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed (1979), the research
conceptualises Dêudã as a performative space that transforms audiences into active participants – “spect-actors” – engaged in dialogue, critique, and communal problem-solving. This framework is developed through the Dêudã Triangle Model, which explores the dynamic interplay between performance, positionality, and peace. The model illustrates how Dêudã culture nurtures empathy, reinforces cultural continuity, and enables inclusive participation in ‘peacebuilding’ practices. This research draws on perspectives and experiences of purposely selected and the analysis of selected lyrics of Deuda cultural performances to provide a grounded analysis of how culturally embedded practices like Dêudã culture can complement institutional approaches by embedding equity, voice, and collective resilience. Future research should adopt mixed methods designs and broader comparative samples to
assess the scalability and long-term impact of such practices. Nonetheless, the findings suggest that by centring culture and collective joy, Dêudã culture offers a sustainable, community-rooted alternative to dominant peacebuilding paradigms in Nepal and other post-conflict contexts
From Smart Cities to the Metaverse A Journey through Cybersecurity, AI, and Urban Sustainability
No full textThis book offers a comprehensive exploration of the convergence between smart city infrastructure and the emerging metaverse. This book highlights the importance of integrating advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality/augmented reality, and blockchain to enhance urban living experiences while addressing such innovations’ security and ethical challenges. Its applications span urban planning, transportation, education, historic preservation, and inclusive city development, making it an essential resource for modern urban development. The book covers many key areas critical to understanding and implementing smart cities and the metaverse. It starts with both domains’ foundational concepts and technological underpinnings, followed by a deep dive into the security infrastructure and challenges smart cities face. Cybersecurity is given special attention, exploring motives and methods of cyberattacks and proposing mitigation techniques and best practices. The book also examines AI chatbots, intelligent transportation, and the integration of digital twins, providing practical case studies and insights. Furthermore, it addresses the socioeconomic implications, governance, and ethical considerations, ensuring a holistic approach to the subject. The motivation for writing this book stems from the contributors’ recognition of the transformative potential of smart cities and the metaverse in creating sustainable, efficient, and inclusive urban environments. By bridging the gap between theoretical research and practical application, the contributors aim to equip researchers, policymakers, and technologists with the knowledge and tools needed to navigate and shape the future of urban living in a digitally interconnected world
Engaging international visual arts foundation students in primary research to develop their understanding and motivation: a case study
Full text linkThis paper describes a study which uses smaller galleries and employs a scaffolded approach to help international foundation students on a visual arts pathway understand and develop primary research methods such as observation and interviews, enhancing academic integrity. It outlines stages of the study along with findings, challenges and benefits. Though limited in scope it shows positive results in enhancing primary research skills and further independent study which ultimately also increases motivation and course engagement: building a sense of belonging and integration into the student and wider community
From the editors
No full text“War, which is at the heart of the construction of the modern world, which constitutes the very basis of colonial and imperialist politics, is the central weapon of structural, systematic violence, of racial and neoliberal capitalism, and its patriarchy”.
From Feminist Theory of Violence Vergès, Françoise
This special double issue of Photography & Culture looks at women photographers making work about conflict and reflects the papers delivered at the fourth conference concerned with women in photography organized by Fast Forward in collaboration with Sandra Križić Roban at the Institute of Art History in Zagreb and Nestan Nijaradze at Tbilisi Photo Festival. The conference was held at the Nikola Tesla Technical Museum from the 16 – 17 November 2023 and it was organised in collaboration with University for the Creative Arts, London College of Communication at University for the Arts, London, The Institute of Art History and Art Pavilion in Zagreb and Tbilisi Photo Festival in Georgia. It was aligned with an exhibition “Floodlit Room – Women’s Photographic Practice in Croatia”, curated by Sandra Križić Roban at Nikola Tesla Technical Museum and The Ethnographical Museum. Our keynote speakers were two prominent practitioners Jananne Al-Ani and Susan Meiselas who shared their works and knowledge with the audience. The articles in this issue act to diversify and shed new light on the debates about women working in conflict and post-conflict zones introducing new works and new approaches to working with histories and traumatic experiences through photographic practices
Participation in non-market housing as collective city-making: Revisiting Bologna, 1962–77
Full text linkThis essay examines architectural histories of Bologna from 1962–77 focusing on inhabitant involvement in collective housing production. ‘Red Bologna’ in this period has been cited as a politically progressive example of participation in urban administration and planning. This dominant architectural narrative is indeed compelling, and has contemporary relevance, due to Bologna’s concerted cityscale attempts to limit economic speculation and provide low-cost dwellings at a time of extreme housing crisis. We offer new perspectives by analysing three sites of participation which, while concurrent, have not previously been addressed together. This essay re-reads these cases, drawing on Anarchist perspectives – a tradition present in Italy but often overlooked in favour of official Marxist or autonomous Marxist currents of the day – to explore questions of sociality, social hierarchy and property. It therefore contributes to contemporary debates around the democratisation of housing and the possibilities offered for self-organisation and wider urban engagement
Fashioning the Digital Self: A Critical Examination of Identity and Sustainable User Practices within Digital Fashion Ecosystems.
Full text link‘Can digital self definition help save the planet?’ Belk’s (2013: 492) provocative question argued the need for further research on his concept of dematerialisation, already posing concern over the impact and value of digital goods. Despite existing digitally, with emergent technologies offering digital tools for unbound fashion expression, there is still little research or evidence that fully answers Belk’s question. To date, digital fashion, avatars, and the metaverse have generated significant publicity within the fashion media and are often marketed as tools for innovation and sustainability. The dematerialisation of fashion could offer a new way of dressing with the potential for environmental, psychological, social, and cultural impact. However, despite the rapid arrival of Web3 technologies, there is little understanding of digital fashion as an end product within the current Web 2.0 discourse. A holistic and mediated approach viewed through the lens of sustainable development is
required for fashion and technology sectors to responsibly collaborate and innovate while considering the future of digital fashion with a key stakeholder in mind— the user. Adopting the sustainable development goals as a framework for contextualisation, this research includes a critical review of existing literature on digital fashion, identity and sustainability, supplemented by established video game theory, and an account of the author’s own experience of being digitised. It further explores two novel studies focusing on prominent users of DF: fashion models (Study One: Digital Bodies) and fashion consumers (Study Two: Digital Dressing). Within Study Two, participants were required to create and dress their digital selves during observational interviews. While grounded in the present, participants speculate on plausible, near-future scenarios where creating and dressing digital bodies becomes an essential extension of self, bringing both opportunity and risk. Key findings suggest that digital fashion augments rather than replaces physical fashion, serving to foster authentic representation through bolder experimentation or enabling style expression via idealised versions of the ‘default’ self. A digital sustainability paradox is implied, whereby users of DF are torn between feeling inspired and inadequate, with the potential to affect offline consumer behaviours. The creation of digital bodies within the DF journey may make users susceptible to body dissonance, and there is a wider risk to digital well-being, which requires industry responsibility. Additionally, issues surrounding digital ethics and autonomy for future fashion stakeholders are highlighted as societal implications, based on participants’ moralistic views of the digital self. 2 Traversing both online and offline worlds, this research aims to reframe and remediate the relationship between fashion and identity for generations that will never know a world without technology. To stay on the path of sustainable development within a blurred
digital/physical fashion landscape, this thesis provides practical tools for the fashion and technology sectors to embed responsible innovation practices, thereby contributing to the emerging field of DF and sustainable development
Practical Applications of Augmented Reality in Sustainability
No full textAddressing the growing challenges of climate change, environmental degradation and resource scarcity requires innovative and accessible approaches to sustainability. Augmented Reality (AR), a technology that overlays digital content onto the physical environment, offers new possibilities for engaging with complex environmental systems through interactive and location-specific experiences. While AR has been widely adopted in cultural heritage settings to enrich museum exhibitions and enhance visitor engagement, its potential is now being explored in response to environmental and sustainability concerns. This paper examines AR use cases across three key domains: renewable energy, green technology and the circular economy. These examples show how AR supports data visualisation, system monitoring and real-time guidance to enable more sustainable practices. Applications include energy system planning, environmental awareness, sustainable mobility and waste reduction through recycling, repair and creative reuse. Through these applications, AR translates abstract sustainability concepts into accessible and actionable experiences that enhance understanding, foster behavioural change and support informed decision making. In addition, the paper considers AR’s broader capacity to connect knowledge, place and emotion, making it a valuable tool for public education, technical training and community engagement. By extending immersive technologies beyond entertainment and traditional learning contexts, AR presents a promising contribution to the design and delivery of sustainability strategies. This paper supports the wider integration of digital innovation into sustainability efforts and positions AR as a meaningful enabler of environmental awareness and practical action
Here, A place
No full textMichel Serres's concept of "ici" — the French word for "here" — offers a poignant lens through which to understand the transformation of a mere location into a meaningful place. For Serres, a place emerges when human actions and unique experiences infuse a site with significance, becoming a point of reference and cultural identity.
This exhibition, showcasing the work of thirteen ICI women artists and designers, explores a diverse range of themes, including nature, migration, hapticality, identity, architecture, domesticity, and consumption. Collectively, these works engage with Serres's concept of "ici", representing the desire of the show's participants to shape with their voices and perspective the cultural identity of the place where they live
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