Understanding how the second-generation youth, with criminal backgrounds, construct their sense of belonging (SoB) is central to debates on integration, particularly amidst rising extremist narratives. Yet, few studies examine how a SoB intersects with crime, and even fewer consider the role of national integration contexts in shaping belonging. This study addresses these gaps by examining how British Pakistanis and French Maghrebians with criminal histories articulate their SoB, revealing differences between and within these contexts. Using a comparative qualitative design, it draws on interviews with 35 participants, aged 18-29, in the aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo attack. The findings reveal two overarching pathways: British participants primarily expressed a default attachment to Britain, whereas French participants predominantly developed a conscious SoB. This conscious belonging subdivides into positive, neutral, and reactive forms, with the latter expressed as fading or negative, particularly in France. Cross-national differences were striking: all four sub-categories of SoB appeared in France, whereas in Britain, only positive, neutral, and negative forms emerged. An impressive 84.2% (n = 16) of French participants developed a conscious SoB, with fading patterns reflecting disillusionment, compared to 37.5% (n = 6) of British participants. Across both contexts, local belonging emerged as a stabilising factor, mitigating experiences of exclusion. These findings challenge assumptions linking minority identity to criminality, highlighting intra- and inter-country variation in identity formation. They underscore the importance of ensuring that SoB development is not left to chance, or worse, to extremist influences, as this generation may play a pivotal role in shaping the paths of future generations.
Germany's Staatsrason - enshrined in the official doctrine 'Israel's security is Germany's reason of state' - has evolved into a powerful security dispositive with far-reaching geopolitical and domestic effects. This article analyses the operations of power mobilized by this non-legally binding and yet coercive political dogma with a specific focus on academic knowledge production. Foregrounding the intersection of security discourses and ideological interpellation, entailed in the combined weaponization of 'Israel related antisemitism' and 'Islamism', the article argues that Staatsrason reconfigures the university into a site of epistemic obedience. It does so by aligning with state power through extra-legal and anticipatory practices of surveillance, censorship, and self-censorship. The article shows that Staatsrason emerges as an institutionalized ideological project. It binds Germany's historical memory politics with paradigms of counterterrorism, reproduces colonial-racial hierarchies, and shapes the very conditions under which knowledge is produced.
Indonesia's cultural diversity presents both opportunities and challenges for social cohesion amid persistent identity-based tensions and structural inequalities. Although multicultural competence has been widely examined in educational research, existing studies largely focus on formal schooling or individual-level interventions, with limited attention to how grassroots communities cultivate intercultural learning through participatory social engagement. This study addresses this gap through a qualitative collective case study of five Indonesian community initiatives using interviews, observations, and document analysis. The findings reveal that multicultural competence develops unevenly and relationally across community contexts. Reflective dialogue, participatory arts, cultural revitalisation, interfaith engagement, and disability advocacy fostered multicultural awareness, critical understanding, and practical intercultural skills in distinct ways. Initiatives that integrated structural reflection and intersectional analysis developed more transformative forms of multicultural learning than those focused primarily on symbolic diversity and cultural appreciation. Cross-case analysis further demonstrates that multicultural competence does not develop linearly from awareness to knowledge and skills, but emerges dynamically through sustained interaction, local social realities, and organizational priorities. The study contributes theoretically by conceptualising multicultural competence as a socially negotiated and community-based capability rather than solely an individual attribute. Empirically, it expands multicultural education research beyond formal institutions by highlighting the transformative role of grassroots initiatives in fostering inclusion, participatory citizenship, and social cohesion within diverse societies.
This study examines how marginalised communities in India strategically use identity as a means of social mobility. While major theories of recognition politics, such as those of Charles Taylor and Axel Honneth, were largely developed in Western liberal contexts, this paper argues that in post-colonial welfare states like India, identity claims are shaped not only by the search for dignity and respect but also by access to state benefits, reservation policies, and official recognition. To explain this, the study introduces two concepts: Symbolic Status Movements (SSM), where communities seek higher social status through cultural emulation, including Sanskritisation, and Legal Status Movements (LSM), where communities mobilise for official state recognition such as SC, ST, or OBC status. Drawing on Social Identity Theory, Weber's class-status-party framework, and Pierre Bourdieu's idea of different forms of capital, the paper conceptualises identity as flexible and responsive to changing institutional conditions rather than fixed or primordial. Through four case studies - the Rajbanshis, Naths, Matuas, and Kudmi-Mahatos - the paper develops the concept of institutionally responsive identity: the argument that identity politics in India operates through constant adjustment to changing institutional conditions, rather than through a simple linear path of social mobility.
This article maps Morocco's passage from early networked mobilizations to a platformized attention regime in which tafaha - mediocrity as high-arousal, low-verification participation - becomes normalized by metric incentives and opportunistic state steering. To bring this idea home, we (1) conceptualize tafaha as an ecology rather than a taste judgment, (2) introduce the internetary as a praxis for understanding publics routed through platforms rather than spatial forums; and (3) assess how these dynamics reshape public quality and induce anticipatory self-censorship. In the first part, we develop the conceptual frame linking attention scarcity, platform logics, and state steering; in the second, we chart the format ecology (aggregators that seed fast-traveling frames, livestream niches that monetize intimacy, and spectacle/prank templates that operationalize provocation) alongside counter-currents that seek to discipline demand; finally, we draw out implications for metrics-aware custodianship, arguing for policies and design choices that widen credible participation while damping incentives for wasteful visibility.
Despite notable progress in maternal health outcomes across India, rural and remote regions such as the Ganderbal district of Jammu and Kashmir (India) continue to experience low utilization of Primary Health Centres (PHCs) for pregnancy care. This study seeks to answer a central question: Why do rural women in Ganderbal district underutilize PHCs for antenatal and delivery care despite their physical availability? Guided by Andersen's Behavioural Model of Health Services Use, the study adopts a qualitative design based on sixteen focus group discussions with rural men and women from diverse age groups. Thematic analysis revealed four primary barriers to PHC utilization: (1) physical inaccessibility caused by poor roads and unreliable transport; (2) perceived low quality of care, including staff absenteeism, unhygienic conditions, and disrespectful treatment; (3) financial burdens arising from informal payments and out-of-pocket expenses; and (4) socio-cultural influences such as fear of providers and preference for traditional birth attendants. The findings demonstrated that geographic proximity alone does not guarantee healthcare access rather trust, dignity, and responsiveness is equally vital. The study underscores the need for targeted reforms focusing on infrastructure enhancement, residential staffing, community monitoring, and culturally sensitive, respectful maternity care to rebuild public confidence in PHC-based maternal health services in rural Kashmir.
This qualitative study explores how Bedouin teacher-training students in southern Israel perceive children's and adolescents' participation in household responsibilities within a society undergoing rapid social and cultural change. Drawing on reflexive thematic analysis of 133 argumentative essays, the study examines how young people make sense of helping behaviors in families navigating the intersection of tradition and modernization. The findings reveal three interconnected themes: the tension between obligation and free choice, the development of positive values, and the strengthening of family relationships. Participants described helping at home as a deeply rooted moral responsibility grounded in gratitude, respect, and reciprocity toward parents. At the same time, some students reflected more contemporary perspectives, emphasizing personal choice, respect for children's leisure time, and, in some cases, the motivational role of modest rewards. These views illustrate an ongoing negotiation between collectivist family traditions and emerging individualistic values. The findings further indicate that participation in household tasks serves as an important context for cultivating responsibility, independence, commitment, and generosity. Students viewed these experiences as preparing young people for adult roles while contributing to character development and social maturity. In addition, helping within the family was perceived as strengthening emotional bonds, enhancing communication, and fostering mutual appreciation among family members. Shared responsibilities were often described as opportunities for cooperation, trust, and family cohesion. Overall, the study highlights household participation as a significant site of value formation, identity development, and relational growth. It demonstrates how Bedouin youth navigate cultural continuity and change while maintaining strong commitments to family solidarity and collective responsibility.
Several scholars consider historical injustices, politicization of ethnicity, political exclusion, inequality, corruption, and weak institutions to be reasons for the recurrent political instability in post-1991 Ethiopia. However, this study argues that clinging to power is the primary source of political instability and possibly a contributing factor to other causes of instability, yet it has received less attention in scholarly debates in post-1991 Ethiopia. Therefore, the study's objectives are to identify the reasons why leaders need to hold onto power for a long time, the strategies they employ to maintain power, and demystify how leaders clinging to power can serve as a root cause of political instability. Using qualitative research methodology, including interviews and document analysis, the study discovered that access to resources, fear of accountability after losing power, historical political legacies, power intoxication, and a lack of national mentality are the primary reasons for leaders clinging to power after 1991. Furthermore, the study revealed that post-1991 Ethiopian leaders used constitutional violations, institutional capture, corruption, ethnicized incumbency, opposition suppression, creating a personality cult, and election manipulation to maintain power. The discussion ends that the leaders' clinging to power, driven by elite self-interest, has become the prime factor in recurrent political instability in post-1991 Ethiopia. The study recommends that both the Ethiopian government and Ethiopians should begin genuinely to end the tradition of leaders clinging to power and replace it with a peaceful power transition that includes meaningful inclusion to reduce the recurrent political instability in the country.
