14 research outputs found
Decolonial psychology in a zone of proximal development: From Monism to Pluralism
No full textYesThe ethical commitments of decolonial psychology are not well articulated. In this chapter, we consider the dialogue between values and knowledge, with a focus on different moral perspectives – universalism, relativism, and pluralism in decolonial psychology. This discussion is necessary if we are to disentangle different versions of decolonial psychology from another and even more necessary if we are to understand the role of outside cultures in engaging colonially with other cultures. A plurality of moral worlds means that outsideness is engaged with a continuum of (dis)comfort from within a variety of zones of proximal development. This chapter will interpret these zones as axiological in nature and outline the skills involved in mastering them. These skills include the mastery of a singular voice, the skill of imagination, and the skill to maintain an authorial center amidst plurality. Drawing on the work of Vygotsky and Bakhtin, we will discuss the acquisition of these skills within decolonial psychology – as an anchor to start considering decolonial psychology as a set of moral commitments and skills to be mastered.The full-text of this article will be released for public view at the end of the publisher embargo on 11 Jan 2027
Semiotic Analysis of Workforce Diversity
No full textPurpose/Objective: The purpose of this dissertation is to affect a paradigmatical shift in workforce diversity in response to the literature gap. Workforce diversity in the USA, a phenomenon often reduced to enumerable categories set forth by and in consequence of the Civil Rights Act. This Act outlawed discrimination on the basis of sex, race, colour, religion, pregnancy, national origin, age, and disability. These categories emerge from a Western, specifically Anglo-Saxon, perspective and are rooted in a nominalist presupposition that construes diversity as a collection of specific dimensions. Literature indicates a lack in diversity research, being narrowly focused on categorisable dimensions and causing conceptual fragmentation. Therefore, this dissertation studies diversity from a paradigm other than positivism and nominalism embedded in empiriometric models which are in no way equipped to understand the reality of diversity.
Design/Methodology/Approach: Peirce opposed nominalism and positivism. Thus, this thesis adopts semiotics, effectively shifting diversity from empiriometric paradigm to Peirce’s semiotic realism. Peirce held that humans are themselves signs, dynamically acting as mutual interpretants from their individual frames of reference. The data will be analysed within the Peircean Logic System to allow for extracting the signs in accordance with the Peircean triadic structure.
Findings: The interviews revealed differing attitudes and, therefore, radically opposed interpretations of diversity’s nature. Participants highlighted disparities in the creation of identities because of a fragmented approach to the terms used by the Civil Rights Act. Hence, this thesis gave diversity an essential definition as approbation of the other as other
Shakespearean Polyphony. An exploration of female voices in seven selected plays using a dialogical framework.
No full textThis thesis employs the concept of 'voice' in order to explore the variety of dialogic relationships between men and women in seven Shakespeare plays. Here, 'voice' is defined as an ideological position held by a character and voices within a dialogical relationship test dominant social ideas. In doing so, the aim is to explore how employing a linguistic approach allows us to develop a more nuanced perspective towards women and female voices in Shakespeare. Taking the early modern tradition of an all-male-cast into consideration, this project acknowledges the tension between the idea of embodiment and voice; however, it argues that even though there is no biological female body of the Shakespearean stage, there is a female voice.
Dialogism, of course, derives from the work of the Russian theorist Mikhail Bakhtin. These 'voices' are analysed in the context of a theoretical framework informed by his writings on the novel, which are also increasingly being used to make sense of drama in line with Bakhtin's own awareness of a nascent dialogism in Shakespearean drama. 'Polyphony', in particular, assumes a separation between the author's and the characters' points of view. Thus, this project considers Shakespeare's texts as dialogic and his plays as a dialogue of voices, in which the characters have the capacity to hold dialogical relationships where no voice holds more importance than any other. This is significant because these conflicting voices are what make the Shakespearean text different from those in which a single voice is heard - that of the author, for example. As this study talks about an oppressive authoritative/patriarchal language, a dialogic approach unlocks the languages of the others which it tries to marginalise and silence.
The research reveals a complex relationship between space, time and voice. More precisely, the carnivalesque becomes visible in Shakespeare's use of innovative discursive devices, such as 'active parody', 'Menippean dialogue' and 'Socratic dialogue', which suggests a multi-toned and ambiguous female voice; a voice that has the capacity to covertly and overtly oppose and challenge social ideologies surrounding gender.
The thesis offers new perspectives on the presentation of women and speech. Importantly, it offers a more sophisticated and complex Bakhtinian framework for looking at carnival in Shakespeare. Additionally, a linguistic model of analysis also develops current scholarly use of Bakhtin's concept of carnival. Rather than viewing carnival as simply a time-space of betwixt and between, this project looks at carnival in the context of language (the carnivalesque). More specifically, it reveals how Shakespeare¿s female figures find pockets of carnivalesque space in everyday existence through dialogue. Thus, suggesting that emancipation is not limited to an allocated time or space, rather, it can also be achieved through language
Mapping the holistic journey of former vegans: The polyphony within veganism
No full textNoThis book explores Veganism through the holistic journeys and lived experiences of former vegans, with a particular focus on the impact this has on their Selfhood and identity. It delves into the complexities underpinning definitions of Veganism and vegan identities.
Based on original qualitative research charting the experiences of ten former vegans, the text offers a theoretical lens for understanding evolving self-perception, identity, and experience, exploring what leads to initiating a transition in and out of Veganism and how former vegans reconcile with losing their vegan identity. Applying a Bakhtinian model of Selfhood, this book explores the tensions between ‘Voices’ representing values within social discourse, such as Veganism, and how individuals co-construct their identity and self-perception through said Voices. Chapters explore the Polyphony within Veganism and offer an insight into the embodied experience of former vegans. Each analysis chapter has been divided into three distinct Threshold-moments of beginning, middle, and end.
Mapping the Holistic Journey of Former Vegans: The Polyphony within Veganism is intended for scholars and postgraduate students interested in Veganism, Selfhood and identity, and behaviour change and anyone looking to understand the context of Veganism in practice
Speaking pictures, silent voices: female athletes and the negotiation of selfhood
No full textYesCombining Mikhail Bakhtin's (1990) theoretical position on Architectonics and Erving Goffman's (1979) writings on visual content analysis, the aim of this paper is to explore how female athletes are caught in a complex matrix of power, post - feminist neoliberalism, and self - presentation. The visual images they choose to portray are, therefore, perfect for determining how this cohort of women negotiates social discourses around identity and femininity. Appropriating the Bakhtinian notion of architectonic unity, not only provides an alternative theoretical lens for enquiries concerning the body, identity, and selfhood, but also initiates some thought provoking questions around neoliberal feminism and 'new femininity.' This paper advances on previous research by exemplifying how Serena Williams (considered the greatest female tennis player of all time) combines both her femininity and strong physicality to self - shape a myth - like persona, setting her apart from traditional stereotypes of femininity and 'femaleness.
From Cultural Imperialism to Cultural Peacebuilding. The Role of Media Within the Framework of the Responsibility to Protect Doctrine: The Case of Libya 2011
No full textThis thesis undertakes a critical approach to understanding the role of media within the responsibility to protect doctrine framework. The purpose of this work is to respond to the following main two questions: Are there non-violent means that can be applied within the context of the responsibility to protect, Pillar III in particular? Does the conceptualisation of the responsibility to protect and the role assigned to the media prevent or facilitate the application of non-violence to the resolution of humanitarian crises, such as genocide, ethnic cleansing, war crimes and crimes against humanity? In order to investigate the above research questions, it adopts a nuanced Social Constructionist perspective, through which the social function of the media is highlighted. This is achieved through the application of Critical Discourse Analysis, which allowed critical engagement with the semantic position of ‘media’, ‘dialogue,’ and ‘non-violence’ within the founding documents published by the International Commission on Intervention and State Sovereignty and the United Nations that developed the concept of the responsibility to protect between 2001 and 2018. Finally, the work explored how the responsibility to protect has been discussed in selected media outlets that are reflective of two different approaches to journalism, whose underpinning principles differ substantially: mainstream and peace journalism. By adopting the same methodological approach and applying it to the case of the NATO intervention to Libya in 2011 this section of this thesis critically investigated whether there is a difference in their discourse, and, if so, what this difference is
Carving a dialogical epistemology for investigating altruism: A reply to Mitchell and Eiroa–Orosa
No full textCarving a dialogical epistemology for investigating altruism: A reply to Mitchell and Eiroa–Orosa
No full textNoThis is a reply to Sue Mitchell and Francisco J. Eiroa-Orosa’s ‘Love
your enemy.’ The latter seeks to explore the self-transcending
potential of altruistic behaviour through a dialogical paradigm. It
not only initiates fresh discussion on the subject of altruism, but
also advances new discussion on Bakhtinian aesthetics. For the
continuation of this forward momentum, we suggest a more
nuanced approach to the placement of the ‘researcher’ within
the applied methodological matrix. Similarly, we also advocate
for the synthesising of research tools, often appropriated by theological
studies, into said methodological matrix.
This is a reply to:
Mitchell, Sue and Eiroa-Orosa, Francisco J. 2018. “Love your enemy? An
aesthetic discourse analysis of self-transcendence in values-motivated
altruism.” Global Discourse https://doi.org/10.1080/23269995.2018.
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انتظار حسین کے دو نایاب اردو اسٹیج ڈرامے
No full textThis essay reviews two plays of short story writer and novelist Intezar Hussain. These are his lesser known works. The author brings to light the significance of the themes of these plays that highlight what he believes to be a disintegrating value system in society. It also reviews the characters of the play and the effective use of language
Metamorphosis from exalted person to cultural symbol: A case study of the GOAT in tennis
No full textyesIn this article, we suggest that our semiotic understanding of
embodiment could be expanded to include a socially exalted individual
who embodies a symbol. To illustrate this argument, we draw on an
ongoing research project that examines fandom rhetoric and debates
around the ‘Greatest of all time’ or the GOAT symbol in Tennis. Grounding Bakhtin’s tri-distinctions of identity, I-for-myself, I-for-other, other-for-me, in a Kantian hermeneutic tradition, we perform a theoretically informed analysis of the GOAT debate. Neither of the three components exists in isolation, rather, they interact in a reflexive
dialogue which continually shapes and re-shapes individual consciousness and experiences of embodiment. We apply a ‘Romanticism aesthetic activity’ analytical framework to the tri-distinctions of identity, that consists of ‘creative’ and ‘critical’ rhetoric, within which we found genres of ‘myth,’ ‘art,’ and ‘science.’ Each genre functions, through disparate means to exalt or metamorphise an individual (our focus is on Roger Federer) into a cultural symbol, and that the symbolic form of
GOAT reflexively organises the emotional field and identities for those
fans deeply invested in it. This paper contributes to the current cultural
psychological literature on understanding the mediation of people to symbols in a new digital age
