The article explores the digital innovations that are being used in a folk performance in West Bengal, namely the Chhau dance. The COVID-19 pandemic foregrounded the relevance of digital space across disciplines. Being an expression of the collective experience of the people of the Purulia district, Chhau dance is commonly associated with fostering and perpetuating folk and mythical beliefs through its extensive use of masks and dance movements steered by the Jhumur songs. While the common urge to archive the traditional (...) dance-drama form in its ‘authentic’ essence precipitates a digital turn within the performance, the digital contact paradoxically reorients the ‘authentic’ identity of this cultural practice. The present study seeks to use the ‘identity–authenticity’ interplay in the context of globalization as the crux of the article. Within this framework, the article analyses how a folk cultural practice like Chhau dance, with its recent innovations in masks and performances mandated by the pandemic, problematizes the debate. It further strives to recognize the implications of the digital presence of the performances as well as the performers, which, for many of the traditionalists, might have jeopardized the ritualistic practices that were considered the ‘essence’ of the performance. The research was conducted through ethnographic methods gathered through fieldwork to gain first-hand knowledge of the ground reality. (shrink)

This issue of Technoetic Arts: A Journal of Speculative Research (TA) encompasses eight articles by artists and scholars from around the globe who engage with methodologies of art practice within research that reflects on technological and ecological change, contributing to the discourse on the inclusion of subjective experience in research. The articles by authors Dulmini Perera, Kate Doyle, Nora S. Vaage, Merete Lie, Nikita Peresin Meden, Kristina Pranjić, Peter Purg, Nicolaas H. Jacobs, Marth Munro, Chris Broodryk, Semi Ryu, Rahul (...) Mahata, Doreswamy, Sana Altaf and Aqib Javid Parry form a collection that crosses disciplines and genres to engage in fundamental critique of existing modes of enquiry and conclusion. The texts situate art and design methodologies in particular cultural contexts and in relation to frameworks defined by research methodologies of the sciences and humanities to gain agency for critique and to counter a sense of inevitability that has come to mark the most recent crises. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Social media is becoming increasingly embedded in people’s daily lives. These virtual spaces are now regularly used as a tool for information dissemination. Drawing on the moral intensity literature combined with uses and gratifications theory, this research explores how using social media to consume information can affect the ethical decision-making process. This study compares the influence of two online media dissemination formats – an online news article and social media discussion thread – on individuals’ ethical perceptions and decisions. Results (...) indicate that social media usage has an effect on perceptions of social consensus, problem recognition, and ethical sensemaking. Overall, Social media is shown to inhibit ethical decision-making when used as an information dissemination tool. (shrink)

Although consumers increasingly claim to demand ethical products and state that they are willing to reward firms that are ethical, studies have highlighted that there is a significant gap between consumers’ explicit attitudes toward ethical products and their actual purchase behavior. This has major implications for firm policies revolving around business ethics. This research contributes to the understanding of the attitude–behavior gap in ethical consumption that literature has identified but not explored much. We utilize the model of dual attitudes as (...) a basis for the arguments presented in the paper and test them. We suggest that the gap in ethical consumerism exists because individuals have implicit as well as explicit attitudes, which are impacted differentially by stimuli and elicit dissimilar behavioral responses and thus have different implications for business ethics policies. Two longitudinal studies are conducted to better understand the impact of an individual’s dual attitudes on preferences and choice. Our findings support the presence of dual attitudes in consumers. Explicit attitudes are found to be easily influenced by the nature of the stimuli. On the other hand, implicit attitudes are relatively unaffected by the nature of the stimuli present and remain relatively constant. Based on the findings, implicit attitudes guide behavior and determine an individual’s preferences. Even though explicit attitudes react to the stimuli presented, our findings suggest they have no impact on the choice of consumers. These findings improve the understanding of ethical consumption, provide a reason as to why the attitude–behavior gap exists, provide a foundation for future researchers and help firms better understand the impact of perceived business on creating a behavioral shift in ethical consumption. (shrink)

Many of the policy choices we face that have implications for the lives of future generations involve creating a risk that they will live lives that are significantly compromised. I argue that we can fruitfully make use of the resources of Scanlon’s contractualist account of moral reasoning to make sense of the intuitive idea that, in many cases, the objection to adopting a policy that puts the interest of future generations at risk is that doing so wrongs those who will (...) live in the further future. (shrink)

This is a review essay of Jeff McMahan's recent book The Ethics of Killing : Problems at the Margins of Life. In the first part, I lay out the central features of McMahan's account of the wrongness of killing and its implications for when it is permissible to kill. In the second part of the essay, I argue that we ought not to accept McMahan's rejection of species membership as having any bearing on whether it is permissible to kill a (...) particular individual, as there are ways of understanding its relevance that are more plausible than McMahan allows. (shrink)

Journeying through the writings and activism of anti-colonial thinkers, anti-globalization protesters, and queer activists, Rao demonstrates that important currents of Third World protest have long battled against both the international and the domestic, in a manner that combines nationalist and cosmopolitan sensibilities.

This book provides a detailed analysis of classical and modern Indian views on consciousness along with their related meditative methods. It offers a critical analysis of three distinct trends of Indian thought.

The project of inquiring into the history of our morals is premised upon the idea that some of our deeply held moral convictions might have emerged through a complicated historical process, rather than, say, through a process of rational deliberation. Were that the case, our philosophical efforts to properly understand our present moral conceptions, as well as our efforts to criticize them, would certainly profit from serious attention to the history of our morals. Jesse Prinz notes, however, that there are (...) several different genealogical methods we could employ in pursuit of this project of historicizing morals.1 Prinz focuses upon three such methods—utilitarian genealogies (such as the ones offered by... (shrink)

ExcerptModernity has been identified with progress and with the idea of progress.1 The identification of progress as fact and idea conceal a two-fold problematic: the nature of time and the subject being characterized. If progress is its characteristic, the subject cannot in turn be said to be in fact progressing, and if it is not, it will be indiscernible from regression. This is not unrelated to modernity construing itself as distinct, distinguishing itself from the past while, at the same time, (...) defining such distinction only in the possibility of (self-)cancellation, i.e., opening an unanticipated future. In this lies the impasse…. (shrink)

Purpose This paper aims to explore and unravel the contents portrayed in online news discourses on massive open online courses (MOOCs). Considering sociological dimensions and journalistic strategies, this study examines how online news media reflects, shapes and informs narratives about the social acceptance and use of the MOOC model of learning. Design/methodology/approach Using the Gioia methodology as the overarching framework, this study adopted a two-staged qualitative content analysis of 1,162 online news items from the websites of the top seven online (...) English newspapers of India, published between May 2012 and September 2023. In subsequent semi-structured interviews with subject matter experts, broad themes were identified. In addition, this study integrated Van Dijk’s ideological square model with media content theories to comprehensively analyze the intricate complexities in media depictions of MOOCs. Findings While manifest content analysis revealed the emergence of 25 categories, latent content analysis unveiled six broad themes: “announcements, user stages, characteristics, benefits, changing facets, and educational inequalities,” which are associated with the MOOC model. Application of Van Dijk’s model evidenced the usage of a positive self-representation strategy by Indian online news media until mid-2020. The application of media content theories underscored the predominant usage of reframing as a journalistic strategy to maintain reader interest in MOOC-related content in online news items, emphasizing the dynamic nature of media portrayals of social phenomena such as MOOCs. Practical implications The depth of MOOC-related coverage and the increasing number of news articles discussing MOOCs in Indian online media signify a growing acceptance of this educational innovation in society. Insights from emergent themes can aid administrators and platforms to effectively design and deliver future courses. In addition, understanding these themes can guide the development of media strategies to address contextual issues such as educational inequalities arising from MOOCs. This study also focuses on the necessity of upholding journalistic ethics in content dissemination. Originality/value This study provides a comprehensive synthesis of various themes and journalistic strategies adopted by online news media over the last decade in MOOC-based narratives in India. Given the distinctive Indian context, wherein MOOCs are growing rapidly amid widening digital inequalities, this research addresses calls within information systems literature to explore this phenomenon. It pioneers the integration of communication and mass media theories to analyze the complex sociological dynamics in news discourses on MOOCs, offering a novel perspective on the intersection of media representation and educational innovation. (shrink)

We study the different solution strategy for solving epidemic model in different imprecise environment, that is, a Susceptible-Infected-Susceptible model in imprecise environment. The imprecise parameter is also taken as fuzzy and interval environment. Three different solution procedures for solving governing fuzzy differential equation, that is, fuzzy differential inclusion method, extension principle method, and fuzzy derivative approaches, are considered. The interval differential equation is also solved. The numerical results are discussed for all approaches in different imprecise environment.

BackgroundNeuropsychological profile of Indian Duchenne muscular dystrophy subjects remains unidentified and needs to be evaluated.MethodsA total of 69 DMD and 66 controls were subjected to detailed intelligence and neuropsychological assessment. The factor indexes were derived from various components of Malin’s Intelligence Scale for Indian Children and Rey Auditory Verbal Learning Test.ResultsPoor verbal and visual memory profiles were demonstrated by DMDs, which include RAVLT-immediate recall, RAVLT-delayed recall, Rey–Osterrieth complex figure test -IR, and RCFT-DR. RAVLT-memory efficiency index demonstrated poor verbal memory efficiency. (...) Significant differences in the functioning of working memory axis [RAVLT T1, recency T1, Digit Span Backward ] were observed along with reduced performance in visuomotor coordination, visuospatial, and visual recognition abilities. Block designing efficiency index and attention fraction showed a normal performance in DMD kids.ConclusionWorking memory deficits were found to be the crucial element of cognitive functioning in DMD cases. Working memory interventions may be beneficial to improve the neuropsychological profile in DMD. (shrink)

According to prominent bioethics scholars and international guidelines, researchers and sponsors have obligations to ensure that the products of their research are reasonably available to research participants and their communities. In other words, the claim is that research is unethical unless it has local social value. In this article, we argue that the existing conception of reasonable availability should be replaced with a social value obligation that extends to the global poor. To the extent the social value requirement has been (...) understood as geographically constrained to the communities that host research and the countries that can afford the products of research, it has neglected to include the global poor as members of the relevant society. We argue that a new conception of social value obligations is needed for two reasons. First, duties of global beneficence give reason for researchers, sponsors, and institutions to take steps to make their products more widely accessible. Second, public commitments made by many institutions acknowledge and engender responsibilities to make the products of research more accessible to the global poor. Future research is needed to help researchers and sponsors discharge these obligations in ways that unlock their full potential. (shrink)

ExcerptThe following essay is an investigation into the nature of the contract, the way in which the contract indexes “right” and equality, and the textual and historical expressions—as well as echoes—that this has taken from Thomas Hobbes to Karl Marx.1 The opening set of conceptual remarks will lead to a reading of Hobbes's Leviathan and Marx's On the Jewish Question, with the intent of arguing that both texts were concerned with theoretically explicating the relationship between right and equality, germane to (...) which was the problematic of the “nation,” which was itself conceived via the “Jewish question.” It will be argued…. (shrink)

To study the static software defect detection system, based on the traditional static software defect detection system design, a new static software defect detection system design based on big data technology is proposed. The proposed method can optimize the distribution of test resources and improve the quality of software products by predicting the potential defect program modules and design the software and hardware of the static software defect detection system of big data technology. It is found that the traditional static (...) software defect detection system design based on code source data takes a long time, averaging 65 h /day. However, the traditional static software defect detection system based on deep learning has a short detection time, averaging 35 h/day. In this article, the detection time of the static software defect detection system based on big data is shorter than that of the other two traditional system designs, with an average of 15 h/day. Because the system design adjusts the operating state of the system, it improves the accuracy of data operation. On the premise of data collection, the system inspection research is completed, which ensures the operational safety of software data, alleviates the contradiction between system and data to a high degree, improves the efficiency of system operation, reduces unnecessary operations, further shortens the time required for inspection, improves the system performance, and has higher research and operation value. (shrink)

Jain ādhyātmik (spiritual, mystical) poets from the 17th to 19th centuries (e.g., Banārasīdās, Ānandghan, Cidānanda) elaborated a category of ineffability to discuss the pure experience of the soul or self (ātma-anubhava). These early-modern Jain poets mobilized a very specific understanding of the ineffable, one that resists language and logocentrism as sources of delusion and conflict. The focus on the ineffable in this poetry is always attended by a set of terms that qualify the ādhyātmik view. These are a privileging of (...) the neutral (samatā), experience (anubhava), and on the other hand, a demotion of opinion, partisanship, doctrinarism, and bigotry (matawālā, mata-arthi, mata-jaṅgī). This paper will show that a shared constellation of terms, intertextuality, and a rejection of partisanship and logocentrism bound a group of Jain poets from the 17th to 19th centuries to a particular endorsement and understanding of ineffability; one which was authorized and emboldened by an engagement with Jain philosophical plurality and non-absolutism. The poetry exhibits a frequent co-occurrence of ādhyātmik anubhava with the Jain the epistemological system known as saptabhaṅgī (Jain seven-valued predications), of which avaktavya (sometimes translated as ineffable or non-assertable) is a prominent aspect. The association philosophically grounds ādhyātmik positions and reinforces their assertion that some aspects of reality, namely ātma-anubhava, are ineffable and beyond the realm of phenomenal predication. (shrink)

In August 2005, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a conservative “think tank” and advocacy organization, filed a lawsuit in the Federal District Court for the Western District of Louisiana against the Louisiana Attorney General challenging the legality of the 1998 Master Settlement Agreement. If successful, this lawsuit could lead to the unraveling of one of the most significant opportunities to improve public health in United States history.Under the MSA, forty-six states agreed to end their litigation against the four largest tobacco companies (...) in the United States, who in turn agreed to pay the states an estimated $206 billion. The CEI alleges that the MSA is unconstitutional. Specifically, the suit alleges that the MSA established a cartel under which the states receive monetary payments and the four major tobacco companies are insulated from price competition – and that this arrangement violates the Compact Clause of the U.S. Constitution. (shrink)

I examine here Theory and Scholarship (taken to be formalized social scientific frameworks that seek to map out the real world and social actions in an objective fashion) via an autoethnographic lens. Chiefly, I ask how autoethnography as a research method reconfigures them: how may we extend knowledge using autoethnography? While much critique has centered on the "doing" (dispassionately?) versus "being" (going native?) of autoethnography, I argue that such a dichotomy is inherently false. Instead, doing is located within the ethnographer's (...) very being, so that a closer look at the autoethnographic research process is required, from conception to implementation to introspection. I attempt such a processual analysis here: drawing on an earlier social scientific project, I relate the intellectual and social process whereby it was translated into an autoethnography. Using a performative lens to illustrate the dialectical mode of doing and being in the research process, I intersperse portions of personal narrative with academic writing, to enable a disjunctural appreciation of the various layers of interpretation. While the epistemic framework I hold to here is indeed a poststructural one, privileging fragmentation and social situatedness, it also emphasizes continuity and interconnections in the research process. (shrink)

The microfinance business model focuses largely on lending to the woman in the household, rather than the man. The belief is that women are more trustworthy borrowers than men, and that lending to women may have increased social impact. Yet in several cases, women do not have control over the loan backed business despite being the borrower of record. Such takeover of the business by the man constitutes an ethical violation. We find that high dependency ratios in the family are (...) correlates of such ethical violations. Further, we also find that ethical violations have a significant economic cost, consistent with prior scholarship in the family-business domain. While access to microfinance increases household welfare, this beneficial impact reduces by over 50% in the presence of an ethical violation. Our results suggest that microfinance lenders need to move beyond the traditional role of just being a lender to providing advice on issues like family planning, and money management, and enforcement, thus moving closer to the solidarity economy paradigm of integrating savings and credit into broader canvases of social relationships and social structures. (shrink)

The phenomenon of consciousness has always been a central question for philosophers and scientists. Emerging in the past decade are new approaches to the understanding of consciousness in a scientific light. This book presents a series of essays by leading thinkers giving an account of the current ideas prevalent in the scientific study of consciousness. The value of the book lies in the discussion of this interesting though complex subject from different points of view ranging from physics, computer science to (...) the cognitive sciences. Reviews of controversial ideas related to the philosophy of mind from western and eastern sources including classical Indian first person methodologies provide a breadth of coverage that has seldom been attempted in a book before. Additionally, chapters relating to the new approaches in computational modelling of higher order cognitive function and consciousness are included. The book is of great value for established as well as young researchers from a wide cross-section of interdisciplinary scientific backgrounds, aiming to pursue research in this field, as well as an informed public. * Presents the latest developments in the scientific study of consciousness * Critically reviews different theoretical and philosophical explanations related to the subject * An important book for both students and researchers in designing research projects on consciousness. (shrink)

N‐type inactivation of potassium channels is controlled by cytosolic loops that are intrinsically disordered. Recent experiments have shown that the mechanism of N‐type inactivation through disordered regions can be stereospecific and vary depending on the channel type. Variations in mechanism occur despite shared coarse grain features such as the length and amino acid compositions of the cytosolic disordered regions. We have adapted a phenomenological model designed to explain how specificity in molecular recognition is achieved through disordered regions. We propose that (...) the channel‐specific observations for N‐type inactivation represent distinct mechanistic choices for achieving function through conformational selection versus induced fit. It follows that the dominant mechanism for binding and specificity can be modulated through subtle changes in the amino acid sequences of disordered regions, which is interesting given that specificity in function is realized in the absence of autonomous folding. (shrink)