Author Archives: ld-sylff

HOME
投稿者 : ld-sylff

Death and Dying Preferences in China and among Ethnic Chinese US Residents

February 3, 2025
By 30592

A comparative study of end-of-life care preferences among Chinese populations in China and the United States conducted by Yifan Lou (Columbia University, 2019, 2022) reveals shared cultural values influencing end-of-life care decisions, despite differing societal contexts and healthcare systems.

* * *

Death and dying are profound issues that are shaped by cultural, societal, and policy factors. People often assume that the experiences of dying, death outcomes, and end-of-life care decisions—such as opting for hospice care and forgoing treatments—are largely determined by the societal structures and policy frameworks of where individuals live. However, death and dying rituals are deeply cultural, and individuals within the same ethnic groups may share fundamental beliefs and values, even when they are in different environments.[1] The shared cultural perspectives, moreover, can lead to comparable end-of-life care choices and,[2] consequently, similar dying experiences, regardless of societal or policy differences.

I studied Chinese older adults as an entry point to understand how different social contexts and life experiences impact preferences for a “good death” and end-of-life outcomes for individuals with shared cultural roots.

There are approximately 1.5 billion people of Chinese ethnicity living around the world, with about 12% of them aged 65 and older.[3] Ensuring a “good death” for this rapidly growing demographic is becoming an increasingly critical public health priority. However, a key question remains: do Chinese people living in different parts of the world—in Western and Eastern countries—share similar perceptions, wishes, and choices regarding end-of-life care, decision-making, caregiving, and family communication?

Working as a social worker in a nursing home four years ago inspired me to conduct this research.

I was privileged to receive a Sylff Research Grant (SRG) that enabled me to explore this topic through a comparative project. I examined the end-of-life care experiences of Chinese individuals in China and the United States—two countries with distinct cultural, social, and healthcare contexts. By investigating these populations, I hoped to shed light on how cultural values, social circumstances, and life experiences (such as immigration versus remaining in the home country) influence older adults’ death and dying experiences. The findings can be critical for policymakers seeking to develop healthcare and palliative care strategies that respect the diverse values, traditions, and preferences of older adults, ensuring their end-of-life experiences align with their cultural beliefs and desires.

With the SRG award, I was able to conduct a series of mixed-method studies examining end-of-life care experiences among Chinese populations in China and the United States. These studies included one qualitative and one quantitative study focused on Chinese individuals in China, as well as a quantitative study of Chinese older adults in the United States. This research yielded findings with which I was able to make two conference presentations with manuscripts in preparation at the Gerontological Society of America’s Annual Scientific Meeting in November 2024 and to draft another manuscript currently under review.

Decisional Conflicts among Family Members

In the first study, I built relationships with community-based healthcare agencies in Shanghai and Beijing providing hospice and palliative care to older adults. I conducted fieldwork alongside these agencies, collecting and analyzing qualitative data on the experiences and perceptions of end-of-life care among older adults, caregivers, and healthcare providers. The study focused on how societal-level factors influence these end-of-life care experiences. Using a multi-level ecological perspective, I sought to shed light on the specific challenges and stressors that family caregivers face when navigating end-of-life care, particularly for individuals living with cognitive impairment.

A hybrid grounded theory approach was used to guide the analysis. Five key themes emerged from the data pointing to multi-level challenges and stressors, framed by social ecological theory. At the individual and interpersonal levels, emotional exhaustion due to decision-making was a prominent theme, especially when caregivers faced communication barriers regarding necessary decision-making paperwork during frequent emergency room visits. Caregivers of individuals with dementia also encountered unique decisional conflicts, often involving disagreements among siblings and uncertainty about the validity of the expressed wishes of those in advanced stages of dementia.

At the mezzo level, a common theme centered around the stigma associated with hospice care for dementia patients, in contrast to the more widely accepted notion of such care for individuals with cancer. Specialized care for dementia symptoms is often viewed as unnecessary or as overtreatment, and the sending of older parents with dementia to hospital-based hospice care—since home-based hospice care is rarely available in China—is considered a violation of filial piety. This stigma often prevents caregivers from seeking appropriate services and support for their dying loved ones. On the macro level, the lack of disease-specific end-of-life resources emerged as a significant challenge. This gap in resources often results in long waiting lists and rising service costs, making it difficult for caregivers to find care that aligns with the specific needs of older adults with different conditions (such as dementia, cancer, and heart failure).

Pain Management in End-of-Life Care

The lack of palliative care and effective pain management is a recurring theme in qualitative studies, and this prompted me to question whether this is a widespread issue for older adults across China. However, generalizing these findings requires nationally representative data. Fortunately, during my fieldwork in Beijing, I connected with a team of interdisciplinary researchers who share similar interests and conducted the first national longitudinal survey of end-of-life care among Chinese older adults.

Through this collaboration, I was able to complete my second study, in which we examined the prevalence of pain and its association with place of death and pain management in the context of urban-rural differences, using data from the China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey. Our sample included 958 decedents aged 60 and above, and we employed logistic regression models for analysis.

Our findings revealed that 26.4% of decedents did not receive timely and effective pain treatment, and 66.5% of families were unable to manage the decedent’s pain. Additionally, 41.96% of decedents experienced severe pain symptoms. Rural residents, those with severe pain, and those who died at home were more likely to forgo adequate pain treatment compared to their urban counterparts. Urban-rural differences emerged where rural older adults with severe pain and those who died at home were less likely to receive timely and effective pain treatment than urban older adults. In urban areas, severe pain symptoms and place of death were significantly associated with receiving appropriate pain management, but this was not the case in rural areas.

This quantitative study supports and extends the qualitative findings, highlighting the urgent need to improve pain management and address disparities in end-of-life care, particularly in rural China.

As noted in the previous qualitative study, many older adults in China do not communicate their wishes for future care to their family members. As a result, family members often face the stressful task of making end-of-life decisions without knowing their loved ones’ preferences and are left uncertain whether any wishes expressed earlier are still valid—particularly if illness has progressed to the point of cognitive impairment.

This raises the question: Are similar gaps in end-of-life care planning present among older, ethnic Chinese adults in the United States, despite the availability of various social policies (such as Medicare benefits for end-of-life care planning) and advocacy programs?

US Trends Mirror Those Seen in China

To address this, I attended networking workshops at gerontology conferences and got connected with a group of researchers who conducted the first population-based study on Chinese immigrants in the United States and have been collecting end-of-life, care-related data since 2021. By working with them, I was able to access this data and start my third study.

We referred to the Population Study of Chinese Elderly in Chicago (also called the PINE Study) to investigate the prevalence and preferences of end-of-life care planning, along with associated sociodemographic and health determinants among older Chinese Americans.

Linear and logistic regressions were conducted to analyze the data. Our findings showed that 46.1% of participants considered end-of-life care planning to be important or somewhat important, yet only 22% had discussed their end-of-life preferences with family members. The most preferred locations for end-of-life care were home (43.7%), hospital (35.5%), and nursing home (10.1%), with only 4.3% preferring hospice care. In terms of decision-making, 47.1% viewed end-of-life care as a family decision, 39.6% saw it as a personal decision, and 7.5% and 3.3% preferred their children or spouses to make decisions on their behalf, respectively.

Our analysis also revealed several factors associated with greater engagement in end-of-life planning, namely, older age, female gender, higher education, greater acculturation, higher levels of religiosity, and more chronic health conditions. These factors were similarly linked to a greater likelihood of having end-of-life care discussions with family members.

Our findings highlighted a low level of engagement in end-of-life care planning among Chinese older adults in the United States, mirroring trends observed in China, despite the availability of more resources and advocacy programs in the United States. This underscores the need for culturally appropriate interventions that respect the diverse preferences for end-of-life care among Chinese older adults in both countries to improve preparedness and decision-making at the end of life.

Next Phase of Research

These SRG-funded pilot studies have laid the groundwork for my next phase of research, which will involve a larger-scale comparative analysis of end-of-life care preferences among Chinese populations in Western and Eastern countries. I am currently compiling the data and developing a plan to conduct a formal statistical population comparison study. This line of research holds significant societal implications for populations worldwide that share similar cultural values and migration histories.

End-of-life care for older adults of Chinese ethnicity.

Additionally, these studies underscore the shared cultural foundations among Chinese communities across different social contexts in relation to preferences for end-of-life care and decision-making, despite the unique challenges and needs that arise in each country. This suggests that interventions that have proven effective among Chinese populations in the United States can also be adapted for use in China and raises the possibility of implementing cost-effective interventions across different settings.

This SRG-funded work has broad research implications, as it paves the way for further comparative studies among other ethnic groups to explore whether cultural preferences remain consistent when individuals migrate to or reside in different countries. If such patterns hold true, it could lead to more efficient and scalable interventions tailored to diverse cultural contexts, ultimately improving end-of-life care for various ethnic communities worldwide.

Notes

[1] Megumi Inoue, “The Influence of Sociodemographic and Psychosocial Factors on Advance Care Planning,” Journal of Gerontological Social Work 59, no. 5 (2016): 401–22.

[2] Yifan Lou and Jinyu Liu, “Death Narrative in 19th-Century China: How Did Newspapers Frame Death and Dying,” Omega: Journal of Death and Dying 84, no. 2 (2021): 634–52.

[3] Dudley L Poston Jr and Juyin Helen Wong, “The Chinese Diaspora: The Current Distribution of the Overseas Chinese Population, Chinese Journal of Society 2, no. 3 (2016): 348–73.

HOME
投稿者 : ld-sylff

Integrating Technology for Efficient Justice Delivery in South Africa

January 22, 2025
By 28866

Leon Poshai (University of the Western Cape, 2020) examines the challenges and benefits of digitalizing South Africa’s judicial system. The electronic submission of court documents would enhance efficiency, transparency, and access, but full adoption is being hindered by cybersecurity concerns and limited ICT skills among some users.

* * *

The aim of my SRG study was to analyze the challenges and prospects associated with the implementation of digitalization in South Africa’s justice delivery systems and to propose measures for addressing obstacles to the effective adoption of digital capabilities in the judicial sector. I conducted qualitative, exploratory research targeting participants in the litigation process from whom anecdotal data was collected through semi-structured interviews.

Efficient, transparent, and timely delivery of justice is a pivotal concern for the South African government (Ntengenyane and Masenya 2022). In interviews with study participants, I learned that the government of South Africa has moved swiftly to revamp the justice delivery system by transforming it from analog to digital through the adoption of an online digital case management system called CaseLines (formerly known as Court Online).

©simpson33 / Getty Images

The system was introduced by the Gauteng Local Division of the High Court in January 2020 to enable litigants to file and upload documents electronically during court proceedings. This has ushered in opportunities to digitalize court proceedings and create pathways for expedient and transparent justice delivery in South Africa (Teffo and Chuma 2023).

Minimizing Red Tape

CaseLines is a cloud-based, e-filing system. An interviewed legal practitioner commented that the system offers litigants the opportunity to instantaneously process and submit litigation documents to relevant courts for review. CaseLines was designed to facilitate the filing, storage, and retrieval of court files and, in the process, minimize red tape (Ntengenyane and Masenya 2022).

Study participants indicated that the platform allows registrar clerks and other court officials, as well as court secretaries and administrators, to keep track of cases conveniently and efficiently. An interviewed participant noted that the CaseLines system alerts litigants about scheduled hearings and reviews through emails or short messages.

CaseLines enables court judges and legal practitioners to document legal evidence and prepare for trials expeditiously. Litigants can prepare for a case online before adjudication, helping to avoid delays in the litigation process.

Interviews with participants revealed that CaseLines has also improved the safety of legal documents, since they are stored in a secure and encrypted database, ensuring that files are not misplaced or lost. They noted that CaseLines offers greater convenience in justice delivery, as it allows applicants and plaintiffs to prepare and upload court case documents without the need for physical visits.

Enabling Remote Adjudication

In many divisions of the High Court in South Africa, particularly in Pretoria and other major cities, CaseLines has led to an overhaul of the case management and legal administration systems. I learned through this study that in cities like Durban, Polokwane, and Cape Town, CaseLines has provided the High Court with the technological tools to refine the internal workflow process, enhancing transparency and accountability in justice delivery. Study participants noted that since the adoption of the CaseLines system, the internal judicial review process has been strengthened, fostering trust among users and resulting in democratized justice accessibility.

Interviewees also noted that CaseLines was particularly important during the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing courts to remotely adjudicate cases despite restrictions on in-person gatherings. When the president declared a state of national disaster in 2020, all divisions of the High Court were directed to use the CaseLines platform, reversing the traditional practice of not allowing electronic documents for litigation purposes and enabling courts to easily manage the inflow of cases (Teffo and Chuma 2023).

South Africa has continued its efforts post pandemic to strengthen the use of technology in its litigation system. Justice delivery in South Africa has become more convenient and flexible for litigants living far away, as court hearings can now be conducted through video conferencing. Nevertheless, the use of online court hearings remains optional, as judges can decide whether a matter should be adjudicated virtually or in person. Thus, hybrid court hearings comprising both physical and virtual attendance are permissible. Generally, virtual hearings are more prevalent in South Africa because of the convenience they offer to litigants.

Addressing Cybersecurity, Digital Literacy Challenges

However, there are many contextual challenges that have derailed the full digitalization of the South African justice delivery system. Firstly, there is fear among some litigants that if they use the CaseLines system, their personal data can be stolen by hackers, given the rise in cybercriminal activities in South Africa and many other parts of the world.

I learned through interviews that not every litigant is comfortable with using CaseLines because of the fear of invasion of personal privacy. Some worried that their data may be tampered with by cybercriminals and that this may result in them losing important evidence for their defense. Thus, there is a need for robust cybersecurity to guard against unauthorized access.

Interviewed participants stated that they would be more inclined to use the system if they are convinced that the information stored on the cloud is safe. The Protection of Personal Information Act (POPI Act or POPIA) is one legislative measure adopted to ensure the protection of personal information from unwarranted access.

Secondly, there is resistance to change by some litigants due to their lack of ICT skills. Some interviewed participants complained that they needed to hire someone to upload their documents, compromising the privacy of the documents and resulting in additional costs. To enable all citizens to make use of digital governance systems like CaseLines, the government of South Africa is making computer literacy training part of the educational curriculum from the elementary to tertiary levels.

Additional challenges include the digital divide, limited internet connectivity in some parts of the country, and general lack of ICT devices. Some participants revealed that they do not own smartphones, which makes it difficult for them to get updates. Substantive investments in ICT infrastructure would thus be needed to ensure that everyone in the country has universal access to ICT resources and internet connectivity, as well as to the greater convenience, transparency, efficiency, and flexibility promised by the digitalization of the South African justice delivery process.

References

Teffo, Dikeledi and Kabelo Given Chuma. 2023. “Management of Electronic Records to Support Judicial Systems at Temba Magistrates’ Court in the North West Province of South Africa.” Journal of the South African Society of Archivists 56: 35–54.

Ntengenyane, Khunjulwa, and Tlou Maggie Masenya. 2022. “The Management of Digital Court Records for Justice Delivery in the South African High Courts.” Mousaion 40 (3): 1–17.

HOME
投稿者 : ld-sylff

Thessaloniki: Exploring the History and Society of an Ancient City in Macedonia

January 16, 2025
By 27750

Thessaloniki, a historical city with deep Hellenistic and Roman roots, offers a unique lens into ancient Macedonian society. Georgios Athanasiadis (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 2019) used an SRG award to conduct an extensive prosopographical analysis of the city’s inhabitants by studying the inscriptions held by various archaeological museums.

* * *

Thessaloniki is a Greek city in central Macedonia founded in 316–15 BC by Kassandros, one of the diadochi (generals) of Alexander the Great. In the Hellenistic period, it was an important center of the Antigonid kingdom, and later, in Roman times, it was selected as the capital of the province of Macedonia and became a free city (civitas libera) (Haensch 1997).

The epigraphic harvest of the city yields around 1,600 inscriptions mentioning more than 3,000 persons. The aim of my doctoral research is to create a prosopography of the city and a thorough study of its society, focusing on the period from its foundation until its selection by Galerius as his seat of government in AD 299. The prosopographical catalogue will provide a full list of Thessalonicans, with each entry being accompanied by a bibliography and a short commentary on the person’s life based on the primary sources.

Evidence for each person, including name category, legal status, occupation, and relationships, is being recorded on a specifically designed online database and will be used in the second part of my thesis to describe the structure of and the changes in the local society of the period under examination.

Need for an Updated Prosopography

The selection of this topic was made for two main reasons. The first was my interest in the history and epigraphy of Macedonia, a peripheral area of the ancient Greek world that has been more systematically studied in the last three decades. The city of Thessaloniki, in particular, is of special importance as a new royal city of the Hellenistic period, evolving after the Roman conquest into a major center of the Roman province of Macedonia. The status of the city as capital, its port, and the Roman-built Via Egnatia road connecting the Adriatic to the Aegean contributed to its multiethnic population, consisting of citizens of other Macedonian cities, people from the Greek East, Romans, Jews, and Christians (Allamani-Souri 2003; Adam-Veleni 2011). These features made the local society an interesting case study worth investigating.

Autopsy of an inscription at the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki (study of the text and the letter form).

The second reason for my interest was that a prosopography of Thessaloniki is missing, and scholars can only draw on an out-of-date Macedonian prosopography that was published in 1955 and supplemented in 1967. Recent excavations have significantly increased the number of inscriptions from Thessaloniki, though, and the publication of a supplement to the initial corpus makes a study like mine not only possible but also necessary. Works by other scholars have enriched our knowledge of various aspects of ancient Thessaloniki, such as its private associations (Nigdelis 2006, 2010) and elite families (Nigdelis 1996; Bartels 2008). However, a systematic study of the local society is a desideratum in scholarship (Zoumbaki 2009, 809–10), since several questions remain unanswered, and some issues require reexamination.

In the first two years of my research, I gathered relevant source materials and have almost completed the compilation of the prosopographical catalogue. This entailed studying 1,000 inscriptions from Thessaloniki and other areas where Thessalonicans are known to have lived (such as Thebes, Delos, Samothrace, and Smyrna). Most of these inscriptions have already been published, mainly in the two corpora dedicated to Thessaloniki (Edson 1972; Nigdelis 2017), but I have also studied a small number of unpublished inscriptions that are mentioned without transcription in archaeological reports. Apart from inscriptions, literary sources and papyri were also used, both as testimonies for Thessalonicans and as sources for the history of the city in the Hellenistic and Roman periods.

In the case of inscriptions, the transcriptions of all names were checked through photos and squeezes (in the archives of the Institute of Historical Research/NHRF) or autopsies of the monuments. The SRG award was crucial for this purpose, since it financed five epigraphic missions to Thessaloniki, Beroia, Thebes, and Chalcis, during which I studied inscriptions kept in the archaeological museum of each city. I also had the opportunity to study documents in the Historical Archive of the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki, which offered valuable information on the discovery and the provenance of many inscribed monuments.

Shedding New Light on Thessalonican Society

My research has so far yielded several interesting findings that have shed light on the society of Roman Thessaloniki, some of which I have presented in postgraduate conferences and articles. The reexamination of the inscriptions and the autopsies have led to new readings of names, which were either misread by or not visible to former researchers. Some inscriptions have also been redated based on epigraphic (e.g., letter form) and archaeological or prosopographical (e.g., identification of the same person or relatives in different inscriptions) evidence.

Making a squeeze of an inscription at the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki.

In addition to this, the reconsideration of former identifications has shown that some of them have been inaccurate. For example, a prominent benefactress from Thessaloniki had been identified with a poetess attested in Thespies mainly because they bore the same—rather popular—name. A reappraisal of the available evidence has shown, however, that the two women lived two centuries apart. The identification proposed must thus be abandoned.

Finally, similar observations have required the reconstruction of the stemma (genealogy) of some Thessalonican families so that the correct relationships are depicted. In the next two years, following the completion of the prosopographical catalogue, I plan to analyze and interpret the data, using statistical methods where appropriate, to determine patterns and describe features of Thessalonican society. It is hoped that my thesis will cover a gap in the literature on ancient Thessaloniki and will serve as a reference work for scholars studying the history of the city and ancient Macedonia in general.

I would like to extend my thanks to the Ephorates of Antiquities and especially the Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki for the permission to study inscriptions from their collections as well as their assistance throughout my research.

References

Adam-Veleni, P. 2011. “Thessalonike.” In R. J. Lane Fox (ed.) Brill’s Companion to Ancient Macedon: Studies in the Archaeology and History of Macedon, 650 BC–300 AD, 545–62. Brill.

Allamani-Souri, V. 2003. “Ιστορικό διάγραμμα της αυτοκρατορικής Θεσσαλονίκης από επιγραφικές και αρχαιολογικές μαρτυρίες.” In Δ. Β. Γραμμένος (ed.) Ρωμαϊκή Θεσσαλονίκη, 80–91. Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο Θεσσαλονίκης.

Bartels, J. 2008. Städtische Eliten im römischen Makedonien. De Gruyter.

Edson, C. 1972. Inscriptiones Graecae, X. Inscriptiones Epiri, Macedoniae, Thraciae, Scythiae. Pars II: Inscriptiones Macedoniae. Fasc. 1: Inscriptiones Thessalonicae et viciniae. De Gruyter.

Haensch, R. 1997. Capita provinciarum: Statthaltersitze und Provinzialverwaltung in der römischen Kaiserzeit. Zabern.

Kanatsoulis, D. 1955. Μακεδονική προσωπογραφία (από του 148 π. χ. μέχρι των χρόνων του Μ. Κωνσταντίνου) (Ελληνικά, Παράρτημα 8). Εταιρεία Μακεδονικών Σπουδών.

Kanatsoulis, D. 1967. Μακεδονική προσωπογραφία (από του 148 π. χ. μέχρι των χρόνων του Μ. Κωνσταντίνου) Συμπλήρωμα. Εταιρεία Μακεδονικών Σπουδών.

Nigdelis, P. 1996. “Geminii und Claudii: Die Geschichte zweier führender Familien von Thessaloniki in der späteren Kaiserzeit. ” In A. D. Rizakis (ed.) Roman Onomastics in the Greek East: Social and Political Aspects. Proceedings of the International Colloquium organized by the Finnish Institute and the Centre for Greek and Roman Antiquity, Athens 7–9 September 1993, 129–41. Κέντρον Ελληνικής και Ρωμαϊκής Αρχαιότητος/Εθνικόν Ίδρυμα Ερευνών.

Nigdelis, P. M. 2006. Επιγραφικά Θεσσαλονίκεια. Συμβολή στην Πολιτική και Κοινωνική Ιστορία της Αρχαίας Θεσσαλονίκης 1. University Studio Press.

Nigdelis, P. M. 2010. “Voluntary Associations in Roman Thessalonike: In Search of Identity and Support in a Cosmopolitan Society.” In L. Nasrallah, C. Bakirtzis, and S. J. Friesen (eds.) From Roman to Early Christian Thessalonike: Studies in Religion and Archaeology, 13–47. Harvard University Press.

Nigdelis, P. M. 2017. Inscriptiones Graecae, X. Inscriptiones Epiri, Macedoniae, Thraciae, Scythiae. Pars II: Inscriptiones Macedoniae. Fasc. 1: Inscriptiones Thessalonicae et viciniae. Supplementum primum: Tituli inter a. MCMLX et MMXV reperti. De Gruyter.

Zoumbaki, S. 2009. Review of Π. Μ. Νίγδελης, ’Επιγϱαφιϰά Θεσσαλονίϰεια. Συμβολὴ στὴν πολιτιϰὴ ϰαι ϰοινωνιϰὴ ιστοϱία τῆς ὰϱχαίας Θεσσαλονίϰης. Latomus 68(3), 808–10.

HOME
投稿者 : ld-sylff

Rightly Guided Leaders: The Role of Religion in the Political Ideology of Viktor Orbán and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan

January 8, 2025
By 29256

Viktor Orbán and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan have strategically used religion to shape their political ideologies and establish unchallenged power in Hungary and Turkey. Tamas Dudlak (Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 2021) introduces his groundbreaking comparative study on how their religious discourses reflect and influence their political systems.

* * *

As part of my SRG 2023 research project, I compared the role of religion in the political ideology of contemporary Hungary and Turkey. Over the last decade, there has been a growing interest in illiberal governance systems, primarily concerning Hungary and Turkey (Bremmer 2018; Economist 2018). Beyond superficial comparisons of these illiberal states, however, the similarities and differences between the lengthy political careers of Viktor Orbán and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and their respective ideologies have not gained much academic attention.

Recently, both Orbán and Erdoğan have utilized the same power techniques to maintain their unchallenged leading position in their respective countries: their strategy can be characterized by changes to the electoral system, excessive media control, defamatory campaigns against political competitors (Jobbik and HDP parties, respectively), aggrandizement of internal-external enemies (Soros-Brussels and Gülen-Washington, respectively), and emphasis on identity politics (nationalism and religious mobilization).

The careers of the two leaders represent the main patterns of political evolution in Hungary and Turkey after the Cold War. Both Orbán and Erdoğan followed global political ideologies (liberalism and nationalism, though in different forms) and utilized them in different periods of their careers. And then, around the economic crisis in 2008, they shifted their political focus to populism, nationalist ideals, and religiosity (Christianity and Islam, respectively), thereby challenging the foundations of the liberal and secular democratic systems in their respective countries.

While attempts have been made in the literature to define the religious foundations of the two systems (institutions, movements, parties, and belief systems), the religious discourse of Orbán and Erdoğan has not been addressed in depth and comparatively. Despite the growing literature on populism, illiberalism, and authoritarian tendencies in the “Western periphery,” there is a lack of context-sensitive analysis of the religious ideas expressed by Orbán and Erdoğan.

The Shaping of the Religious Narrative

To fill this gap, I conducted research to compare the circumstances that shaped the religious narrative of the two leaders. The goal was to acquire an empirical understanding of how religious discourses have been formulated by politicians in Hungary and Turkey over the last decade and a half and what underlying factors (historical and geopolitical) and current circumstances (legislative background and the domestic and foreign political environment) shape the outcome of governmental decisions (political practice) and discourses (political theory).

By explaining the differences and similarities, I hope to shed light on the essential characteristics of these systems and to arrive at a better understanding of the evolution of the religious discourses utilized.

St. Stephen’s Basilica, completed in 1906, is the largest church in Budapest.

I focused on the Hungarian and Turkish governmental “mainstream” religious discourse after 2010 to determine how the leaders of these political systems thematize Christianity and Islam in their political agenda (identity, national goals, moral values, and humanitarianism). The empirical part of the research examined how the two leaders, Viktor Orbán and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, perceived the role of religion in their formative years and how religion later came to inform their political views.

As a matter of general or theoretical inquiry, I compared how illiberal governments conduct their religious discourses. Are Turkey and Hungary going in the same direction in their respective religious policies, for example, utilizing religion for counter-Europeanization or anti-Westernism and supporting a distinctive civilizational identity?

The underlying narratives were examined by discourse and content analysis. For this purpose, I focused on the official statements and speeches of Orbán and Erdoğan. The central position of the leaders can be explained by their dominant role in constituting the current political systems in Hungary and Turkey. In countries where populist politics thrive, the charismatic leader gains greater importance in the political arena.

Similar Patterns

Commonalities between the careers of Viktor Orbán and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan are evident. Both grew up in the peripheries (countryside) of secular political systems with nondemocratic characteristics (socialism and Kemalism, respectively), yet religiosity played an essential role in their early lives. Later, their success was related to their ability to mobilize critical voices against these secular regimes; consequently, they were elected as reformists and became advocates of liberal democracy during their early political life (in the 1990s and 2000s).

Around the economic crisis in 2008, though, they gradually shifted their political focus to populism, nationalist ideals, and religiosity (Christianity and Islam, respectively), thereby challenging the foundations of the liberal and secular democratic system. Instead of following the path for which they had previously advocated, both leaders launched a rhetorical campaign against the West and its institutions and, at the same time, started to give greater attention to the East and South in their foreign and identity policies.

Two paradigm shifts can be identified in the political careers of Orbán and Erdoğan. These brought a new set of views and political theory to political practice. To put it differently, both leaders reorganized and rephrased the basis of their political legitimacy many times, using similar patterns, as follows:

Erdoğan	Orbán
Shifted first from an Islamist politician to a moderate Islamist (with liberal elements) and then transformed into a Muslim nationalist (with authoritarian elements).	Was a petty bourgeois with a conservative background (prior to embarking on political career), embracing liberal thinking as a university student and initially as a politician. After becoming well-established, he drove his party to conservativism and religiousness and bracketed the issue of democracy in practice (illiberalism).

Orbán’s party, Fidesz (originally Fiatal Demokraták Szövetsége, or Alliance of Young Democrats), came to power in 2010 with a firm policy against the liberal elite, having earlier led a coalition government between 1998 and 2002. Once in power, Orbán continued the fight against external and internal elites. After weakening the domestic liberal elite, Orbán’s political struggle has increasingly transformed into a campaign against the influence of foreigners. The most striking example is his ongoing confrontation with the EU and the so-called “values of the Western elites.”

A similar pattern can be observed in the case of Erdoğan. Even though Erdoğan’s party, the AKP (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi, or Justice and Development Party), has been in power since 2002, he increasingly emphasized the unifying nature and cultural importance of the Turkish identity and Islam to a Turkish public disillusioned with the EU accession process. Although initially popular with Western leaders, Erdoğan’s rhetoric toward Turkey’s Western allies slowly gave way to criticism as Turkish democracy failed to consolidate, and authoritarian tendencies in Turkey deepened. And as Erdoğan fell out of grace, he increasingly interlinked the domestic opposition to certain external forces of the West that allegedly tried to overthrow him as Turkey’s “legitimate leader.” This anti-liberal and anti-Western narrative created a revanchist style of populism based on the dichotomic worldview that Western civilization and Islam are incompatible (Kaya et al. 2019, 7–8).

Geopolitical Liminality

Beyond the direction of political development, the geopolitical status of Hungary and Turkey also has some similarities. Geopolitical liminality is the main characteristic of the two, even if Hungary became an “insider” as an EU member while Turkey remained a relative “outsider” of the European project and the continent itself (ww and Kutlay 2017, 1). Therefore, it might be more precise to say that while Hungary is on the periphery of the West, Turkey is on the periphery of Europe. Turkey is on the periphery of the Middle East and the Islamic civilization, while Hungary is on the southeastern flank of Western Christianity (Roman Catholicism, Calvinism, and Lutheranism), surrounded by the “Orthodox civilization.”

The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul was originally built as a church, then converted to a mosque before serving as a museum between 1935 and the summer of 2020. Since then, it has been reconverted to a mosque.

This in-betweenness makes these cases interesting from a religious point of view, since the geopolitical positions of Turkey and Hungary postulate highly contested and confrontational identity formations.

Despite the commonalities between the two leaders and their respective political systems, the crucial question is why and how Orbán and Erdoğan sometimes departed on a different path. In the light of global political tendencies, the interesting puzzle lies in how the two leaders define the nature and aims of their respective political systems through the language of religion.

My research, I believe, can contribute to the literature in two ways. The comparative work is the first of its kind and can thus shed light on the essential characteristics of these political systems and better identify the main themes of the respective religious discourses. The findings can also open a new area of research, leading to a fuller understanding and theorization of how illiberal governments design their religious discourses and build policies around certain religious ideals.

References

Bremmer, Ian. 2018. “The ‘Strongmen Era’ Is Here. Here’s What It Means for You.” Time, May 3. https://time.com/5264170/the-strongmen-era-is-here-heres-what-it-means-for-you/.

Economist. 2018. “How Democracy Dies. Lessons from the Rise of Strongmen in Weak States,” June 16. https://www.economist.com/leaders/2018/06/16/lessons-from-the-rise-of-strongmen-in-weak-states.

Kaya, Ayhan, Max-Valentin Robert, and Ayşe Tecmen. 2019. “Populism in Turkey and France: Nativism, Multiculturalism and Euroskepticism.” Turkish Studies 21 (3).

Öniş, Ziya, and Mustafa Kutlay. 2017. “Global Shifts and the Limits of the EU’s Transformative Power in the European Periphery: Comparative Perspectives from Hungary and Turkey.” Government and Opposition 54 (2).

HOME
投稿者 : ld-sylff

100th Anniversary of Rhapsody in Blue: Juilliard Dean, Fellow Interviewed by NYC Local Media

December 24, 2024

George Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue, composed in 1924, celebrated its 100th anniversary this year. As a masterpiece that fuses classical music with jazz, it has been featured in many films, concerts, and even at the Olympic Games.

The piece has also become an iconic symbol of New York City and was recently showcased on local news channel Pix11. Interviewed in the story were David Ludwig, SSC chair and dean and director of the Music Division at the Juilliard School, and 2024 Sylff fellow Anoush Pogossian, who spoke about the composition’s opening clarinet solo.

Pogossian performed the piece with the Juilliard Orchestra at a concert on November 18 at Alice Tully Hall in New York’s Lincoln Center. The Juilliard Orchestra is the university’s largest and most visible student performing ensemble comprising nearly 400 students in the bachelor’s and master’s degree programs.

The concert, performed before a thrilled audience as well as being streamed live, also featured Alan Hovhaness’s Symphony No. 2, “Mysterious Mountain”; Joan Tower’s Chamber Dance; and Samuel Barber’s Symphony No. 1.

Another 2024 Sylff fellow, flutist Phoebe Rawn, performed with Julliard’s AXIOM at a concert on November 25, also at Alice Tully Hall. AXIOM is dedicated to performing the masterworks of the twentieth- and twenty-first-century repertoire. She was featured in Charles Ives’s Central Park in the Dark and Augusta Read Thomas’s Solstice Ritual (Homage to Varèse and Ravel) for 14 Virtuosi.

Many of Juilliard’s performances throughout the year can be viewed free of charge, both online and in person, and the school invites those interested to check its Performance Calendar to enjoy the rich musical experiences Juilliard offers.

HOME
投稿者 : ld-sylff

Season’s Greetings from the Sylff Association Secretariat: Sylff News 2024

December 16, 2024

As 2024, marked by growing global challenges, draws to a close, we wish to express our heartfelt gratitude to each of you for your continued commitment to the ideals and operations of the Sylff program.

We have been able to relaunch in-person contact with many Sylff institutions following several years of pandemic-induced travel restrictions. Many new outstanding and motivated fellows joined our diverse community, helping to expand our global network and advancing the Sylff mission, which is to transcend differences and bring about positive social change.

In addition to visiting Sylff institutions in Japan—Keio University, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, and Waseda University—members of the Sylff Association secretariat traveled abroad in 2024 to meet with university officials, SSC members, and fellows at the University of Oslo, University of Copenhagen, University of Helsinki, Uppsala University, National Academy of Governance, Gadjah Mada University, and Ankara University. The visits were opportunities to catch up on the operations of the Sylff program at each institution and to attend fellows gatherings, where SLI/SRG experiences and activities updates were shared, and connections were made with those in different fellow years.

Follow the links below for news regarding these and other Sylff community activities over the course of the past year. We wish you a joyful and peaceful holiday season and look forward to working with you to accomplish greater things in 2025.

The secretariat will be closed from December 28 to January 5 for the winter holidays. Please also note that we will be moving to a new office next year. Our new address as of April 1, 2025, will be: The Sasakawa Peace Foundation Bldg. 5F, 1-15-16 Toranomon, Minato-ku, Tokyo 105-8524, Japan.

Meetings with Administrators and Fellows

Feb 19
A Visit to the Multicultural Campus of Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University

May 7
An Online Orientation Meeting for “Pedro Arrupe” Fellows

May 9
Presentations by Waseda Fellows and Meeting of the Steering Committee

May 14
Chairman Sasakawa Visits Universiti Malaya

Jun 13
Visits to the Geneva Graduate Institute and Uppsala University by Chairman Sasakawa

July 17
Sylff Administrators’ Meeting for Five Chinese Universities in Tokyo

Support Programs

Jan 24
SLI Award for Project to Create an Educational Model for the Indigenous Amahuaca People in Peru

Feb 13
Sylff Research Grant (SRG) Recipients for Fiscal 2023

April 1
SLI Call for Applications Updated

April 8
SRG Applications for FY2024 to be Accepted from May

May 15
Launch of Preliminary Registration for SRG 2024

May 23
SLI Award for Project to Promote Diversity and Inclusion in Music through Concerts in Germany

June 11
An Initiative to Broaden Educational Horizons for Rural Youth in India

Highlights from the Sylff Community

Feb 2
Western Cape, Keio Fellows Featured at Symposium Co-Organized by the Tokyo Foundation

Sept 24
Sofia Fellow Supervises Bulgaria’s First Summer School of Ancient Near Eastern Studies

Nov 26
Juilliard Fellow Edits Routledge Handbook of Arts and Global Development

Dec 11
Event Held to Honor Sylff Alumni at Athens University History Museum

Sylff＠Tokyo

July 23
Sylff@Tokyo: Inspired by Sylff Leaders Workshop to Teach Food Justice

Oct 16
Sylff@Tokyo: Fletcher’s Multinational Focus on Meeting Global Challenges

Dec 3
Sylff@Tokyo: Developing Global Leadership Professionals at UCSD

HOME
投稿者 : ld-sylff

Event Held to Honor Sylff Alumni at Athens University History Museum

December 11, 2024

The National and Kapodistrian University of Athens hosted a Sylff alumni celebration event on October 4, 2024, at the architecturally distinguished Athens University History Museum．The event was attended by Japanese Ambassador to Greece Koichi Ito, former Rector and former Member of Parliament Theodoros Fortsakis, members of the university’s Sylff Steering Committee, NKUA faculty members, and Sylff fellows.

Since the Sylff program was established at the university in 1993, more than 300 graduate students in the humanities and social sciences have received Sylff fellowships and moved on to careers in academia, social entrepreneurship, business, and government. Athens fellows have been among the most active in the Sylff community, many of them successfully applying for additional support through the Sylff Research Grant (SRG) and Sylff Research Abroad (SRA) programs to advance their studies.

We are really grateful to NKUA for hosting this event, which serves as a reminder of the significant role the Sylff program can play in the lives of both current and graduated fellows. We hope that Athens fellows will continue to demonstrate leadership in their respective fields and broaden their professional ties with one another. We also hope to continue developing the solid legacy of partnership and cooperation that NKUA and the Sylff Association have built over the past 30 years.

Read the article about the Sylff alumni event published on the website of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens at: https://hub.uoa.gr/en/event-in-honour-of-the-alumni-of-the-ryoichi-sasakawa-young-leaders-fellowship-fund-sylff-at-the-athens-university-history-museum/.

HOME
投稿者 : ld-sylff

EDI Rhetoric and the Experiences of LGBTQ+ International Students in Canada

December 10, 2024
By 31445

The experiences of LGBTQ+ international students in Canada point to a complex web of challenges, writes Fatemeh Gharibi (York University, 2020), from discriminatory immigration and academic policies to revenue-motivated promises of inclusion, highlighting contradictions in the country’s equity, diversity, and inclusion rhetoric.

* * *

Over 7 million students in higher education globally hold international status, a number growing due to globalization and the evolution of the “knowledge economy” (Corkum 2017, 110; Trilokekar et al. 2020, 9). In response to rising anti-immigrant sentiments and political shifts to the right, Canada has introduced caps on international students, impacting both current and prospective students (IRCC 2024). These restrictions, alongside recent price surges and housing crises blamed on migrants, disproportionately affect international students, particularly those with temporary status in Canada (Hamilton & Su 2024). Marc Miller, Canada’s minister of immigration, announced in 2023 that international student caps would also affect students already in the country, impacting admission, work permits, and other vital aspects of their stay.

LGBTQ+ international students face additional challenges, influenced by changes in immigration policies and the social climate regarding LGBTQ+ rights, which affect their quality of life and access to resources. Anti-LGBTQ+ sentiment has also been rising in Canada, with legislation such as Bill 137 in Saskatchewan, which mandates parental consent for minors to use a different gender-related name or pronoun at school, sparking concerns for LGBTQ+ students who came to Canada for a more accepting environment (Marshall 2021; Corkum 2017). Research shows that anti-LGBTQ+ ideologies often intersect with other bigoted beliefs and far-right politics, impacting LGBTQ+ international students disproportionately (Dietzel et al. 2023).

As a queer, racialized international student, I find Canada’s Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) rhetoric contradictory, given the exploitative nature of its immigration and education systems, which create precarities for marginalized groups. Economic-driven research on international students, often criticized as “reductionist,” fails to fully capture the lived experiences of these students (Tavares 2021a, 5). To address this gap, I conducted a systematic literature review of 100 sources from 2000 to 2024, exploring the experiences of LGBTQ+ international students and the intersection of university internationalization, EDI priorities, and their impacts on these students.

The review revealed that while migration offers LGBTQ+ students opportunities for self-exploration, it also exposes them to unique challenges, including discrimination based on intersecting identities like race, sexuality, status, and nationality. For these students, access to resources is limited compared to their domestic counterparts. The commercialization of education for international students, moreover, conflicts with EDI’s goals. EDI is often used as a marketing tool to portray Canada as inclusive while treating diversity as a commodity to attract students who are then exploited as revenue sources. This dual focus on profit and diversity branding highlights the contradictions in EDI policies in capitalist countries like Canada, which may appear inclusive but prioritize revenue generation over actual support for international students’ well-being.

“We Reject Your ‘Use and Throw’ Policy.” Day 45 (October 13, 2024) of protests in Brampton, where former international students have been camping outdoors to draw attention to recent policy changes in Canada.

International LGBTQ+ Students’ Experiences

The term “international student” is often homogenizing, lumping together people from diverse backgrounds; my research centers on students from the Global South in Canada, highlighting voices lacking the privileges of white, Western counterparts. For LGBTQ+ international students, migration can be a space for identity exploration (Corkum 2017; Nguyen et al. 2017; Oba & Pope 2013), but these students also encounter challenges within Canada’s racial and colonial hierarchies, affecting them through discriminatory immigration and academic policies (Yao et al. 2019; Lee 2019; Stein & de Andreotti 2016). Two key literature areas address these students’ experiences.

The first area focuses on “identity development” and cultural challenges in “coming out,” exploring dual cultural influences of home and host countries, and the need for culturally sensitive support (Nguyen et al. 2017; Quach et al. 2013; Oba & Pope 2013). This literature notes the complexity of disclosure due to family, cultural beliefs, and the legal status of LGBTQ+ rights in home countries (Nguyen et al. 2017, 113–14). However, by centering on cultural differences, it sometimes neglects broader power structures, racial issues, and the historical spread of homophobia via colonization, as well as recent anti-LGBTQ+ backlashes in the Global North.

The second area explores how racism, nationalism, and colonialism impact queer migrant bodies and create precarious statuses (Marshall 2021; Corkum 2017; Lee 2019). Concepts like “homonationalism” in Canada reveal how some queer identities, especially white ones, are embraced by the state, reinforcing inequalities (Puar 2017; Marshall 2021). Corkum (2017, 124) specifically highlights the disillusionment faced by LGBTQ+ international students who confront values favoring their white, Canadian-born peers, which can hinder their belonging and relegate racialized queer students to marginal spaces. My present study aligns with a “holistic” approach (Tavares 2021a), focusing on lived experiences and challenging systemic barriers.

There remains a gap in research on how issues like gender and sexuality affect broader challenges like housing, employment, health, and social services access. The current literature on LGBTQ+ international students largely prioritizes identity while overlooking trans-specific experiences, disabilities, and relationship with land, with only brief mentions of nationality and status.

Implications of Internationalization and EDI

Internationalization is a high priority at 95% of Canadian universities (AUCC, cited in Stein & de Andreotti 2016, 230), driven by neoliberal economic shifts and global politics. De Wit et al. describe the four rationales for this trend as “political, economic, socio-cultural, and academic” (cited in Guo & Guo 2017, 853). Though academic internationalization ideally integrates international perspectives into education (Jane Knight, cited in Das Gupta & Gomez 2023, 73), it often becomes a “marketing strategy” aimed at revenue generation, with international students paying higher fees to make up for public funding cuts (Guo & Guo 2017, 851; Das Gupta & Gomez 2023; McCartney & Metcalfe 2018).

EDI strategies in Canada were introduced post-1970s as responses to civil rights movements and neoliberal immigration priorities, framed by multiculturalism and human rights (Das Gupta & Gomez 2023, 72). EDI policies help market Canadian education as inclusive, particularly to students of color from the Global South, positioning Canada as tolerant and benevolent. However, EDI can reinforce Western dominance by perpetuating a global hierarchy where the West is always positioned as superior (Stein & de Andreotti 2016, 226).

While EDI and internationalization are priorities for Canadian universities, their revenue-driven approaches often undermine true equity for international students, leading to contradictions in policies and practices (Buckner et al. 2022, 39; Tavares 2021b, 2). The focus on generating income through recruitment can overshadow equitable treatment and inclusion for these students. The following section will further explore international students’ experiences of EDI in educational settings.

EDI Strategies and International Students

Few studies have investigated EDI strategies concerning international students, with none of them specifically addressing gender and sexuality. These studies raise concerns about the effectiveness of EDI practices, particularly in the context of internationalization, due to the inherent contradiction between the two (Das Gupta & Gomez 2023; Buckner et al. 2022; Tavares 2021b). I seek to connect these findings to relevant experiences of international LGBTQ+ students.

Equity?

Tamtik and Guenter (2019) emphasize that Canadian universities largely overlook international students as an equity-seeking group, even though many are people of color and face unique barriers due to their temporary status. Buckner et al. (2022) argue that universities need to address the contradiction between market and equity logics, especially in relation to tuition disparities between international and domestic students. Das Gupta and Gomez (2023, 81) note that international students, particularly those with post-graduate work permits, often lack access to settlement and social services. This gap extends to international LGBTQ+ students, who encounter difficulties in accessing necessary medical and legal services related to gender transitioning and HIV prevention (OHTN n.d., 5).

Diversity?

Diversity is often promoted as a means of enriching knowledge and intercultural connections (Legusov & Jafar 2021, 57), yet Trilokekar and El Masri (2016, 674–76) reveal that the process of recruiting international students and their integration into Canadian society often reinforces conformity to Canadian norms around race, language, and religion, limiting the genuine mutual exchange intended. International students frequently find that their presence does not foster true intercultural connections, as curricula often lack international perspectives, and their experiences are undervalued (Tavares 2021b; Guo & Guo 2017). Ahmed (2012, 10–11) observes that “diversity” is frequently presented as an achievement even when there is no real institutional change. Moreover, while gender and sexual diversity are celebrated, Canadian universities often fail to address the unique needs of international LGBTQ+ students who prioritize privacy over visibility due to concerns like “diasporic surveillance” (Nguyen et al. 2017, 117–18; Corkum 2017, 114).

Inclusion?

Tavares (2021b, 1) finds that international students often experience superficial multiculturalism and social exclusion. LGBTQ+ international students face barriers both within the university and in queer communities, feeling isolated as “the international ones” in local LGBTQ+ groups and “the LGBTQ+ ones” among international students (Corkum 2017; Nguyen et al. 2017). Inclusion is problematic within a system that marginalizes certain groups, as Lenon and Dryden (2015, 16) argue, pointing out that “inclusion does not equate to justice.” They contend that inclusion efforts often uphold neoliberalism, white supremacy, and Western dominance, exacerbating the vulnerabilities of international LGBTQ+ students (Lenon & Dryden 2015; Thobani 2007).

The author, left, presents research findings in a panel titled “From Failure to Refusal: Queerness, Migrancy, and Other Improper Subjects of Racial and Colonial Capitalism” at the Congress of Social Sciences and Humanities, Toronto, Canada, May, 2023. The other panelists are, from left, Rhiannon Cobb, Mengzhu Fu, and Jin Haritaworn.

Closing Remarks

The existing literature provides an intersectional analysis of international LGBTQ+ students’ experiences, but more nuanced frameworks are needed to understand issues concerning their identities. Dominant identity categorizations in Western academia, like queer of color, may not fully capture their social locations, as they come from different racial structures in their home countries and may not initially feel connected to either queer or people of color histories and concerns in the host country. To address these incompatibilities, researchers have attempted to incorporate queer diasporic critique, neo-racism frameworks, and transnational critical race theory frameworks (Corkum 2017; Lee & Rice 2007; Yao et al 2019).

The literature examining EDI and decolonization in the context of internationalization presents two main approaches: one advocates for reforms within existing frameworks, focusing on improving EDI fulfillment through enhanced student support (Buckner et al. 2022; Tavares 2021b), and integrating Indigenous knowledge to decolonize internationalization (Beck & Pidgeon 2022). Another perspective challenges the systems of oppression at local and global levels and questions the feasibility of achieving equity, diversity, inclusion, and decolonization for international students within the current framework (Das Gupta & Gomez 2023).

Incorporating critical frameworks in everyday encounters and work with international students can challenge the reproduction of deficit narratives and expectations for seamless assimilation into local sexuality norms. Instead of constantly attempting to educate international students about the host country’s norms, there is a need to teach domestic students, faculty, staff, and society about other countries. It is essential to learn from the diverse stories and knowledge of international students, how they envision classrooms, campuses, queer and trans spaces, immigration, and internationalization, and be prepared to start adjusting instead of expecting them to do all the work.

References

Ahmed, S. 2012. On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life. Duke University Press. https://ocul-yor.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01OCUL_YOR/j50f41/cdi_proquest_miscellaneous_1082140471.

Beck, K. & Pidgeon, M. 2020. “Across the Divide: Critical Conversations on Decolonization, Indigenization, and Internationalization.” In Tamtik, M., Trilokekar, R. D., & Jones, G. A., eds., International Education as Public Policy in Canada, 384–406. McGill-Queen’s University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv18sqz9q.22.

Brunner, L. R. 2023. “Settler Nation-Building through Immigration as a Rationale for Higher Education: A Critical Discourse Analysis.” Higher Education Research & Development, 42(5), 1086–1102. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2023.2193732.

Buckner, E., Chan, E., & Kim, C. 2022. “Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion on Canadian Universities: Where Do International Students Fit In?” Comparative and International Education, 51(1), 39–56. https://ojs.lib.uwo.ca/index.php/cie-eci/article/view/14613.

Corkum, T. 2017. “Where Do I Begin? Educational Citizenship and Sexual Minority International Students in Ontario.” In Carpenter, S. & Mojab, S., eds., Youth as/in Crisis: Young People, Public Policy, and the Politics of Learning, 109–25. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-6351-098-1_8.

Das Gupta, T. & Gomez, B. 2023. “International Students and Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity (EDI) in Canadian Universities: A Critical Look.” In Kim, A., Buckner, E., & Montsion, J. M., eds., International Students from Asia in Canadian Universities, 72–85. Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-edit/10.4324/b23160-7/international-students-equity-diversity-inclusivity-edi-canadian-universities-tania-das-gupta-bianca-gomez.

Dietzel, C., Maitland, H., & Jonsson, S. 2023. “Queerphobic Hate Is on the Rise, and LGBTQ+ Communities in Canada Need More Support.” The Conversation, October 24. http://theconversation.com/queerphobic-hate-is-on-the-rise-and-lgbtq-communities-in-canada-need-more-support-214932.

Guo, Y. & Guo, S. 2017. “Internationalization of Canadian Higher Education: Discrepancies between Policies and International Student Experiences.” Studies in Higher Education, 42(5), 851–868. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2017.1293874.

Hamilton, L. & Su, Y. 2024. “International Students Cap Falsely Blames Them for Canada’s Housing and Health-Care Woes.” The Conversation, January 25. http://theconversation.com/international-students-cap-falsely-blames-them-for-canadas-housing-and-health-care-woes-221859.

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC). 2024. “Canada to Stabilize Growth and Decrease Number of New International Student Permits Issued to Approximately 360,000 for 2024.” News Release, January 22. https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/news/2024/01/canada-to-stabilize-growth-and-decrease-number-of-new-international-student-permits-issued-to-approximately-360000-for-2024.html.

Lee, E. O. J. 2019. “Responses to Structural Violence: The Everyday Ways in Which Queer and Trans Migrants with Precarious Status Respond to and Resist the Canadian Immigration Regime.” International Journal of Child, Youth and Family Studies, 10(1), 70–94. https://doi.org/10.18357/ijcyfs101201918807.

Lee, J. J., & Rice, C. 2007. “Welcome to America? International Student Perceptions of Discrimination.” Higher Education, 53(3), 381–409. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-005-4508-3.

Legusov, O. & Jafar, H. F. 2021. “International Students at Canadian Community Colleges: Origins, Evolution, and Current Trends.” In Malveaux, G. & Bista, K., eds., International Students at US Community Colleges, 55–70. Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003121978-5/international-students-canadian-community-colleges-oleg-legusov-hayfa-jafar?context=ubx&refId=3e351ea8-8115-4ad5-8588-cdf6b045bc7c.

Lenon, S. & Dryden, O. H. 2015. “Introduction: Interventions, Iterations, and Interrogations That Disturb the (Homo)Nation.” In Dryden, O. H. & Lenon, S., eds., Disrupting Queer Inclusion: Canadian Homonationalisms and the Politics of Belonging, 3–18. UBC Press.

Marshall, N. 2021. “Queering CYC Praxis: What I Learned from LGBTQI+ Newcomer, Refugee, and Immigrant Students’ Experiences in Canada.” International Journal of Child, Youth and Family Studies, 12(3–4), 170–202. https://doi.org/10.18357/ijcyfs123-4202120344.

McCartney, D. M. & Metcalfe, A. S. 2018. “Corporatization of Higher Education through Internationalization: The Emergence of Pathway Colleges in Canada.” Tertiary Education and Management 24 (3): 206–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/13583883.2018.1439997.

Nguyen, H. N., Agrawal, A., & Grafsky, E. L. 2017. “International LGBTQ Students across Borders and within the University. In Johnson, J. M. & Javier, G., eds., Queer People of Color in Higher Education, 109–22. Information Age Publishing, Inc. https://ocul-yor.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01OCUL_YOR/26r5oc/alma991036306548005164.

Oba, Y. & Pope, M. 2013. “Counseling and Advocacy with LGBT International Students.” Journal of LGBT Issues in Counseling, 7(2), 185–93. https://doi.org/10.1080/15538605.2013.785468.

Ontario Network for HIV Treatment (OHTN). n.d. Connection and Acceptance: A Resource Guide for Providers Serving International LGBTQ+ Students. https://hqtoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/OHTN-International-Student-Provider-Resource.pdf.

Puar, J. K. 2017. Terrorist Assemblages: Homonationalism in Queer Times (Tenth Anniversary Expanded Edition). Duke University Press. https://ocul-yor.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01OCUL_YOR/j50f41/cdi_askewsholts_vlebooks_9780822371755.

Stein, S. & de Andreotti, V. O. 2016. “Cash, Competition, or Charity: International Students and the Global Imaginary. Higher Education, 72 (2), 225–39. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-015-9949-8.

Tamtik, M. & Guenter, M. 2019. “Policy Analysis of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Strategies in Canadian Universities: How Far Have We Come?” Canadian Journal of Higher Education / Revue canadienne d’enseignement supérieur, 49(3), 41–56. https://doi.org/10.7202/1066634ar.

Tavares, V. 2021a. International Students in Higher Education: Language, Identity, and Experience from a Holistic Perspective. Rowman & Littlefield. https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781793641113/International-Students-in-Higher-Education-Language-Identity-and-Experience-from-a-Holistic-Perspective.

Tavares, V. 2021b. “Feeling Excluded: International Students Experience Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion.” International Journal of Inclusive Education, 28(8), 1551–68. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2021.2008536.

Thobani, S. 2007. Exalted Subjects: Studies in the Making of Race and Nation in Canada. University of Toronto Press. https://ocul-yor.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/permalink/01OCUL_YOR/j50f41/cdi_askewsholts_vlebooks_9781442691520.

Trilokekar, R. D., Jones, G.A., & Tamtik, M. 2020. “Introduction: The Emergence of International Education as Public Policy.” In Tamtik, M., Trilokekar, R. D., & Jones, G.A., eds., International Education as Public Policy in Canada, 3–26. McGill-Queen’s University Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv18sqz9q.5.

Trilokekar, R. D. & El Masri, A. 2016. “The ‘[H]unt for New Canadians Begins in the Classroom’: The Construction and Contradictions of Canadian Policy Discourse on International Education. Globalisation, Societies and Education, 15(5), 666–78. https://doi.org/10.1080/14767724.2016.1222897.

Tuck, E. & Yang, K. W. 2012. “Decolonization Is Not a Metaphor.” Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 1(1), 1–40. https://clas.osu.edu/sites/clas.osu.edu/files/Tuck%20and%20Yang%202012%20Decolonization%20is%20not%20a%20metaphor.pdf.

Quach, A. S., Todd, M. E., Hepp, B. W., & Doneker Mancini, K. L. 2013. “Conceptualizing Sexual Identity Development: Implications for GLB Chinese International Students.” Journal of GLBT Family Studies, 9(3), 254–72. https://doi.org/10.1080/1550428X.2013.781908.

Yao, C. W., Mwangi, C. A. G., & Brown, V. K. M. 2019. “Exploring the Intersection of Transnationalism and Critical Race Theory: A Critical Race Analysis of International Student Experiences in the United States.” Race Ethnicity and Education, 22(1), 38–58. https://doi.org/10.1080/13613324.2018.1497968

HOME
投稿者 : ld-sylff

Cultural Rights in Serbia: A Report

December 5, 2024
By 31741

Cultural rights are constitutionally guaranteed in Serbia, yet face significant challenges due to limited funding, brain drain, and economic instability. This report by Aleksa Nikolic (University of Belgrade, 2024) examines Serbia’s legal framework and steps toward improvement.

* * *

What Are Cultural Rights?

Pok Yin Chow begins his recently published book Cultural Rights in International Law and Discourse: Contemporary Challenges and Interdisciplinary Perspectives with an introduction entitled “Cultural Rights—A Radical Hope?” In it, Chow tries to show that cultural rights are an integral component of human rights that are as fundamental as civil, political, economic, and social rights. The disintegration of the bipolar world has served to highlight the importance of this aspect of human rights, providing us with a much-needed perspective on how we can explore, negotiate, and come to a deeper understanding of various cultures.

Cultural rights can be assessed as a precondition for the protection of other human rights. They are also critical considerations in numerous hotspots, such as conflict and post-conflict zones. Cultural rights can serve as pillars in the development of society and its legal system.

Cultural Rights under Serbian Law

Human rights are guaranteed in the current Constitution of the Republic of Serbia (Article 18). Given the fact that Serbia has ratified the most important international legal conventions on human rights, one gets the impression that these guarantees are unnecessarily duplicated in the Constitution. However, Serbia is by no means an exception, considering that the global trend is for not only the constitutionalization of international law but also the internationalization of constitutional law, especially in the field of human rights.

Constitutional references to cultural rights in only three articles (Articles 71–73), though, testify to the fact that they have advanced the least in their evolution compared to other human rights. Article 71 guarantees that everyone has the “right to education” and that the government “shall provide for free tertiary education to successful and talented students of lower property status in accordance with the law.” Article 72 guarantees the autonomy of universities, faculties, and scientific institutions, which “shall decide freely on their organization and work in accordance with the law.”

Article 73 proclaims that “scientific and artistic creativity shall be unrestricted,” with authors of scientific and artistic works being “guaranteed moral and material rights in accordance with the law” and the Republic of Serbia assisting and promoting the “development of science, culture and art.”

The wording of these provisions suggests, though, that the Constitution guarantees cultural rights only in principle, with specific protections being elucidated by legal acts.

A border sign saying “Goodbye” from the Republic of Serbia. CC BY 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons

Upholding Cultural Rights in Practice

The key problem related to upholding cultural rights in Serbia is the country’s fiscal situation. The state’s science budget is extremely low, with allocations in 2019 for research and development totaling only 0.4% of gross domestic product, or just one-eighth of levels in Austria. This points to the need to restructure the research and development system and define new strategies to improve the position of cultural rights.

Indeed, the Serbian government’s latest long-term strategy for scientific and technological development could lead to shifts in investment patterns and improvements in scientic standards. The idea of combining institutional and project financing of scientific research is encouraging, but the ultimate goal of reforms should not be to solve just one in a series of key issues but to create a systemically efficient legal framework that will enable uninterrupted scientific research.

Another important precondition for improving the position of cultural rights is to prevent further “brain drain.” Particularly after the war events of the 1990s, Serbia encountered a large wave of migration. After many years of marginalizing this problem, the first steps toward its resolution have finally been taken. To encourcage the young, highly educated population to remain in the country, the competent ministry last year engaged 1,200 young PhD students in scientific research projects. While this is a positive trend, it is necessary to create a long-term strategy that will, among other things, guarantee young researchers employment after the expiration of these projects.

Given the need for increased funding, the country’s economic recovery may be an important prerequisite for further advancing the protection of cultural rights in the Republic of Serbia.

HOME
投稿者 : ld-sylff

Sylff@Tokyo: Developing Global Leadership Professionals at UCSD

December 3, 2024

Grace Osborne, director of Global Leadership Development at the University of California San Diego, visited the Sylff Association secretariat on November 13, 2024, during her business trip to Tokyo.

(From left) Program Officer Maki Shimada, Director of the UCSD Global Leadership Institute Grace Osborne, and Director Keita Sugai.

UCSD joined the Sylff community in 1991, when a $1 million endowment was established there to support the education of outstanding graduate students with high potential for global leadership.

Sylff fellowships are awarded to students enrolled in the UCSD Graduate School of Global Policy and Strategy. Because today’s professionals need a strong understanding of how management, public policy, and international interactions shape strategic decision-making, GPS offers an innovative curriculum that blends the best of three professional school traditions—international relations, public policy, and management. The curriculum is designed to foster this understanding and takes a minimum of two years to complete.

GPS is internationally recognized for its excellence, attracting high-caliber students from a wide range of backgrounds and regions. GPS has trained more than 1,500 men and women who have assumed positions of leadership in business, government, and nonprofit organizations throughout the world.

The current Sylff fellow at UCSD is Daniel Hershfield, who is working toward a master of international affairs at GPS. He graduated from UC Berkeley in 2020 with a BA in political science and a minor in global poverty and practice. At Berkeley, he served as a research assistant with the Program on Security Institutions and Violent Instability and researched communal violence in India while interning abroad at the Centre for the Study of Society and Secularism in Mumbai.

Post-graduation, he contributed to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in the Jewish community as a member of the nonprofit UpStart’s inaugural Jews of Color Career Development Program. As a senior research assistant at the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data (ACLED), Hershfield led the analysis of political violence, civil unrest, and domestic extremism in regions such as North America and Oceania.

The Sylff Association secretariat is very grateful for the visit from UCSD and hopes to continue working closely with the institution to promote leadership development among current and graduated fellows.