Search Results (849)

This article examines remittances not only as financial transfers but also as datafied political objects shaped by measurement, modelling and presentation infrastructures. Using the UK–Romania corridor, we compare observed personal remittance receipts published by the National Bank of Romania (NBR) with model-based bilateral estimates associated with World Bank/KNOMAD data. The article develops an analytical framework that links quantification, metric power, algorithmic governmentality, hybrid media circulation and emerging bottom-up social policies. It then shows how nominal values, real values at constant 2021 prices, year-by-year changes, moving-average smoothing, employment-scaled scenarios and transfer-balance indicators generate different representations of diaspora contribution, welfare substitution and national economic performance. Rather than assigning final authority to one dataset, the article demonstrates how calculation and presentation choices become communicative interventions. The conclusion emphasises methodological transparency and the need to connect remittance statistics to both political communication and community-level welfare practices. Full article

Administrative fragmentation, whereby political boundaries are used as analytical extents, can disrupt ecological flows and weaken ecological network planning by creating a mismatch between governance units and ecological processes. However, the pathways through which such fragmentation alters network structure and function remain insufficiently quantified. This study quantifies these effects and identifies the landscape conditions that shape the effectiveness of cross-boundary integration. Using a multi-scale buffer experiment (1–32 km) across 30 representative counties in China, we constructed ecological networks based on Morphological Spatial Pattern Analysis and on the minimum cumulative resistance model. Results show that relaxing administrative boundaries reduced structural distortions and lowered total ecological flow cost, indicating that fragmentation increases connectivity costs. Mechanistically, reducing redundant internal links and forced detours improved network efficiency mainly by shortening corridors and lowering flow costs, whereas mean corridor resistance changed little. This suggests that functional degradation is driven primarily by topological disruption rather than by declines in corridor quality. The benefits of cross-boundary integration were greater in counties with regular shapes, high grassland cover, humid climates, and rugged terrain, but weaker under strong human pressure and warmer temperatures. Improvements leveled off beyond 32 km, suggesting a 32 km buffer (study-specific) for integration and supporting context-specific strategies for ecological network planning. Full article

This review develops a configurational account of the relationship between religion and transnationalism by addressing a specific analytical limitation in the existing literature: its tendency to oscillate between substantializing religious traditions as already constituted entities that move across borders and segmenting transnational religion into disconnected domains such as networks, migrant communities, diasporic identities, institutions, political mobilization, digital mediation, social support, or pilgrimage. While these approaches have generated substantial empirical insight, they leave undertheorized the relational formation through which religious authority, practice, identity, material circulation, symbolic boundary-making, institutional organization, and mediated presence are assembled and made socially effective across multiple scales. To clarify this problem, the review reconstructs scholarship on religion and transnationalism through five major thematic domains: transnational religious networks, religious identity in transnational contexts, religion as a catalyst of transnationalism, the embedding of religion in transnational social practices, and distinctive forms of transnational religion. This reconstruction shows that transnational religious phenomena are inadequately understood as the spatial extension of pre-given traditions, as residual expressions of ethnicity or migration, or as discrete networks, movements, institutions, or diasporic communities. They are better grasped as historically contingent and relationally ordered formations whose temporary coherence is produced through the interaction of actors, authorities, practices, discourses, infrastructures, legal-regulatory environments, memories, obligations, and material flows. Building on the concept of social configuration, the review therefore proposes transnational religious configurations as a more precise unit of analysis for studying how the religious and the transnational are mutually constituted rather than externally connected. It defines such configurations as historically specific formations in which religious categories, institutions, practices, authorities, material resources, symbolic boundaries, and cross-border conditions of possibility are articulated across local, national, transnational, and global scales. The review operationalizes this approach through three analytical levels—conditions of possibility, construction and characteristics, and social realities and consequences—and illustrates its explanatory purchase by examining a new phenomenon within the contemporary transnational revival of Shi‘i Islam. Full article

We study the effect of financial liberalization, political connections, audit quality and the interaction of these factors on the cost of debt using a dataset for Vietnam for the period 2007–2024. Our findings show that firms were able to borrow at a lower cost after financial liberalization due to better access to capital and diversification opportunities. We test how financial liberalization moderates the relationship of auditor quality on the cost of debt and of political connections on the cost of debt. Following financial liberalization, the benefit of engaging a Big 4 auditor in reducing firms’ cost of debt diminishes. Greater transparency and reduced information asymmetry after financial liberalization help offset the need for the Big 4 auditor’s financial report quality certification. Hence, we find that financial liberalization moderates the effect of a Big 4 auditor on the cost of debt. We find that firms with political connections have a lower cost of debt, and this relationship is impacted by financial liberalization. Specifically, as liberalization deepens, the cost of debt declines more for firms with higher levels of political connections. Lastly, politically connected firms do not need to rely on high-quality auditor certification to secure lower borrowing costs due to their easier access to debt from state-owned commercial banks. The political connections moderate the relationship between auditor quality and the cost of debt. Full article

For many Christians, the Gospel has nothing to do with socio-political issues. It is a “spiritual” matter. However, this is an unbiblical understanding of Christian faith. It is too a misunderstanding of what authentic spirituality is and the implications it entails. There is false piety which resulted in a faith and a spirituality divorced from the real world. This study focuses on the ethical implications of spirituality and explores its deep connection with the mission of the Church in the struggle for justice and peace and the quest for reconciliation. It argues that the South African experience can help us to a better understanding of true spirituality and the ethical implications of Christian faith. In the context of apartheid, many Christians understood that their faith compelled them to develop a “mystique of action,” involving themselves in the struggle against injustice and engaging in the search for reconciliation. The South African experience shows us that reconciliation is not a private affair between God and the individual; it has far-reaching social and political implications. Full article

This paper examines male characters in Nilakshi Chaliha Gogoi’s Assamese novel Oiya Mor Dibru-Saikhowa (Oh, My Dibru-Saikhowa) through the lens of Eco Masculinity, drawing primarily on Hultman and Pulé’s tripartite typology of industrial, eco-modern, and ecological masculinities. The study reads the novel’s two principal male characters—Bakul Bora and Seuj—as contrasting masculine trajectories shaped, respectively, by socio-economic deprivation, displacement, patriarchal conditioning, and legal criminalization on the one hand, and by maternal ecological ethics, generational mentorship, and affective formation on the other. The analysis proceeds through three connected registers. First, it attends to the novel’s narrative form, arguing that its principal focalizing consciousness is Dr. Irina Baruah, a physician through whose perception the male characters are largely presented. Second, it develops the political ecology of the Dibru-Saikhowa region—its colonial and postcolonial conservation history, the institutional gap between the Wildlife (Protection) Act 1972 and the Forest Rights Act 2006, and the slow violence visited on the Mising villagers of Laika and Dadhiya. Third, it engages intersectional critiques of eco-masculinity and confronts the structural tension of applying a male-centered framework to a female-focalized novel. The paper argues that Eco Masculinity, applied with due attention to narrative form, historical specificity, and eco-feminine agency, offers a productive tool for South Asian ecocritical scholarship, and it suggests two modifications to the framework that follow from this application. Full article

This study examines the determinants of creative goods exports within a multidimensional openness framework that integrates trade, cultural, and political openness. Its importance stems from the growing strategic role of the creative economy in international trade and sustainable development, particularly under conditions of deglobalization pressures, re-globalization, and geoeconomic fragmentation. While previous empirical research has largely treated openness dimensions separately, this study argues that their interaction may offer a more accurate explanation of creative export performance. Using unbalanced panel data for 13 countries from the MENA region over the period 2002–2022, the study applies a Panel ARDL model estimated through the Pooled Mean Group (PMG) approach to identify both short-run dynamics and long-run equilibrium relationships. The analysis focuses on whether political openness reinforces the effects of cultural and trade openness on creative goods exports. The findings reveal a stable long-run relationship among the variables. Cultural openness and political openness exert positive and significant long-run effects on creative goods exports, whereas trade openness does not appear significant in isolation. The interaction between cultural and political openness is positive and significant, indicating that institutional openness enhances the export benefits of cultural integration. By contrast, the interaction between trade and political openness is negative in the long run, suggesting diminishing marginal gains under stronger institutional integration. Overall, the study highlights that the sustainability of creative exports relies more on the interplay between cultural connectivity and institutional quality than solely on trade liberalization. Full article

This study was conducted to investigate the impact of climate change disclosure on the cost of debt and gain deep insight into the usefulness of political connections and ESG disclosure for reducing the cost of debt. A sample of 83 listed firms in the Egyptian context, spanning 498 observations over 6 years from 2018 to 2023, was used. A quantitative approach was adopted to examine the key hypotheses. This research reveals that climate change disclosure decreases the cost of debt. Furthermore, political connections and ESG disclosure moderate the main nexus. Multiple robustness checks were conducted to confirm these findings. Crucial policy implications for regulators, investors, and sustainability experts were developed by highlighting the latest practices of corporations aligned with achieving Sustainable Development Goals. The significance of this study lies in filling several gaps in the literature regarding climate change disclosure, political connections, and ESG disclosure and how a company’s strategic approach can impact the cost of capital. Full article

This study rigorously examines the impact of political instability (POI) on firm performance (FPER) using high-dimensional panel data from 2006 to 2022, drawn from the World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES) for 60 economies. Using advanced machine learning-based econometric techniques, including Double-Selection LASSO Regression (DSLR) and Partialing-Out LASSO Regression (POLR), the analysis reveals that POI significantly reduces FPER across the sampled countries. These findings remain robust across a series of validation tests, including alternative estimation approaches such as Cross-Fit Partialing-Out LASSO Regression (CF-POLR) and Bayesian Model Averaging (BMA), the use of alternative FPER proxies—employment growth (FEMG), innovation (IINN), and labor productivity (FLP)—and the substitution of POI with government regulation (REG). Mediation analysis further indicates that operational costs (OCOST) and firm investment (FINV) significantly and partially mediate the total effect of POI on FPER. In contrast, financial constraints (FCST) do not emerge as a significant mediator. The moderation analysis shows that political connections (PC) substantially attenuate the negative impact of POI on FPER. Heterogeneity analyses demonstrate that small, young, and capital-intensive firms are more severely affected by POI than medium and large, older, technology-intensive, and labor-intensive firms. Additionally, firm ownership-based heterogeneity indicates that state-owned enterprises experience slightly stronger adverse effects from fluctuations in POI than non-state-owned firms. Based on these empirical insights, policymakers need to promote institutional stability and provide direct support for vulnerable young and small firms to reduce the adverse effects of POI on FPER. Ultimately, this boosts economic flexibility in politically unstable markets by managing key growth drivers. Full article

Mohandas K. Gandhi (popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi) has primarily been recognized for his work in developing the theory and practice of nonviolence (ahimsa) for the purpose of building a culture of sustainable peace. Although Gandhi’s writings do not explicitly engage such categories as negative and positive peace, peace and international relations, or pacifism and nonviolence, scholars in peace studies have nonetheless assessed his contributions to the evolution of the field. This article advances the study of peace by emphasizing the dynamic nature of nonviolence (ahimsa), which is inextricably connected to Gandhi’s vision of sarvodaya (uplift of all). It further argues that his approach to peacebuilding, grounded in the upholding of pluralism across civic life, offers a conceptual framework for disrupting hegemonic monolithic systems. Gandhi lived in a time when the concept of pluralism had not gained currency; however, his vision, rooted in the values of diversity and tolerance, can appropriately be understood under the now widely accepted concept of pluralism. Gandhi thus uniquely connected nonviolence, peace, pluralism, and sarvodaya. For him, peaceful co-existence mandates attention to diversity—an approach that can enrich contemporary conversations in a divided political, social, and religious landscape. As a political leader and social reformer, he promoted indigenous languages, diverse village industries, local economies, and multi-faith religious education. In his later life, he also advocated for inter-caste and interreligious marriages in order to mitigate communal tensions. Such attention to diversity offers a promising path toward realizing the goal of sustainable peace and sarvodaya in a contemporary landscape increasingly prone to monolithic systems. Sarvodaya inherently requires a commitment to pluralistic, dialogical, dialectical, and nonviolent engagement in all spheres of life. By emphasizing shared humanity and committing to diversity, Gandhi offers a social philosophy of respect for all life as well as uplift of all trades, languages, and belief systems grounded in the vision of welfare of all. His practical methods of engaging diverse actors, along with his radical efforts to disrupt autocratic, authoritative, and centralized systems, affirm that the objectives of sarvodaya and sustainable peace can be realized only through a radical pluralism. Full article

Objectives: Government surveillance of American Muslims has grown following 9/11, yet little scholarship has analyzed how this activity impacts political participation. We examine racial and ethnic variation in American Muslims’ experiences of state surveillance, as well as the connection between those experiences and voter turnout. Methods: Using a survey of 1000 American Muslims, we identify racial and ethnic patterns in being singled out in airports and by the police. We then analyze how being stopped in these venues shaped turnout behavior in the 2016 presidential election. Results: Black Muslims are more likely to encounter surveillance from the police, while Muslims who identify as Asian report the highest degree of monitoring in airports. We find that police encounters are linked to decreased electoral participation, but being singled out by airport security is not tied to a change in turnout. Conclusions: These findings provide a more detailed and comprehensive understanding of who is impacted by surveillance in the US and how that surveillance shapes American democracy. Full article

The world of Star Wars may seem far removed from Renaissance England, but through an examination of the regnal aspects of Henry VIII and (Emperor) Sheev Palpatine (Darth Sidious), it is evident that their ruling styles, concerns, and personal characteristics are quite similar. Specifically, they share (1) a connection to the arts through visual, architectural, and political themes, making them ‘Renaissance men’; (2) a fixation with male (Force-sensitive) bloodlines, whether through biological children or Sith Apprentices; and (3) a legacy of having their most powerful and ‘best’ heirs being women—Elizabeth I (r. 1558–1603) and Rey (Palpatine/Skywalker). Hence, these case studies, which rely on the trait approach of leadership, demonstrate the utility of comparing leaders from different times, cultures, and realities in an effort to understand not only good and bad leadership elements, but also the nature of leaders’ downfalls. Full article

There is a correlation between colonial histories and contemporary migration practices, and this paper examines these transnational enduring connections. Using a qualitative thematic synthesis of existing interdisciplinary sources, this paper argues that the politics of space, migration, and identity in the present cannot be fully comprehended without tracing their colonial genealogies. The findings demonstrate that colonial migrations in all forms (forced, enslaved, or settled) formed transnational genealogies that determine who moves, who is stopped, who belongs, and who is an outsider. The paper concludes that understanding current migration politics, spatial inequalities, and identities requires an appreciation of transnational genealogies that connect the past to the present. The paper suggests that colonial history is more than a background but a framework that sets the conditions within which migration occurs today. This paper contributes to showing that family functions as a neglected site where genealogies are transmitted and contested across generations. Full article

The integration of algorithmic systems into critical digital infrastructure is no longer peripheral to governance, it is governance. As AI-mediated decisions influence credit access, clinical diagnoses, criminal risk scores, and infrastructure routing, the question of who controls these algorithms and whether that control is meaningful has become a central concern for states and institutions at every level of development. Existing frameworks, including the NIST AI Risk Management Framework, ISO/IEC 42001, and the EU AI Act, have made real progress toward structured AI governance. However, none treats digital sovereignty as a first-order goal, nor do they provide integrated cross-layer guidance applicable across the diverse institutional landscape found worldwide. From this synthesis, we develop the Integrated AI Risk Governance Framework (IARGF): a four-layer structure covering policy and regulations, institutional oversight, technical controls, and operational execution, organized around five risk categories—technical, ethical, security, systemic, and sovereignty-related. A comparative analysis with major existing frameworks highlights the IARGF’s unique contributions, especially its explicit focus on sovereignty, adaptability across different institutional capacities, and recursive feedback mechanisms that connect all four governance layers. The framework is analyzed across three domains—healthcare AI, financial services, and critical infrastructure—to demonstrate its practical utility. Results confirm that governance effectiveness is a system property, not just a feature of individual layers; that digital sovereignty is both a governance goal and a distinct risk dimension with specific technical and institutional needs; and that context-aware, capacity-scaled governance is a design requirement, not a political compromise. The IARGF is presented as a conceptual governance model based on a systematic literature review rather than an empirically validated tool, and it remains to be tested in actual organizational settings. Its main contribution is the comprehensive theoretical integration of sovereignty, institutional capacity, and inter-layer governance dynamics, rather than proven performance advantages over existing models. Future research should aim to validate this framework through longitudinal case studies, expert panels, and retrospective failure analyses. Full article

In this article, I will use the ecological approach to explore the recent videos of Pınar Öğrenci. I will focus on two works: Aşît—The Avalance (2022) and Cemetery of the Nameless (2025). In the latter work, there is a complex examination of the interplay between the precarious paths taken by refugees and the climate change crisis. She also explores the multiple layers of history and memorialization in sites that have been scarred by genocide. In Cemetery of the Nameless (2025), Pınar establishes an analogy between missing bodies and the contamination of the water of Lake Van. However, this connection is not linear and there is no direct cause and effect; Lake Van was meant to be a transit zone for the refugees, not a cemetery. I will argue that the function of analogy is in its suggestion of comparisons, rather than the establishment of equivalence. Öğrenci thereby puts the analogy to work in a dual manner—it both amplifies and concentrates our attention. We listen to the narratives of migration while looking at the scenes caused by climate change. The image broadens the horizon of the narrative, and the voice sucks the gaze into a dark hole. In this manner, Öğrenci’s art of witnessing, which both combines and separates voice and image, amplifies and concentrates the transfer of information. I will also frame this commentary on the artworks with a broader discussion on the politics of care and memorialization. Full article