Reconstructing Chineseness: Chinese Media and Chinese Identity in PostReform Indonesia

The fall of Suharto in 1998 brought winds of change to Indonesia, especially to policies concerning the Chinese. After being suppressed under the Suharto regime, Chinese Indonesians suddenly had an opportunity to express their cultural heritage in their own ethnic media, counter negative stereotypes and reconstruct an identity that had been virtually erased during the Suharto era. In this article, author examines the discursive practices Chinese Indonesians use to remould their ethnic identity through an analysis of the media strategies used to reinvigorate the Chinese Indonesian identity. It was found from the Chinese media, as exemplified in Qiandao Ribao, Guoji Ribao and Yindunixiya Shangbao, that the re-creation of the Chinese identity requires an understanding of what it was to be Chinese through the use of the symbols most salient to Chinese ethnicity. The media have been strongly geared towards the reconstruction and maintenance of a Chinese identity that sees Chinese Indonesians as an imagined community whose ethnicity is symbolically perceived and maintained through frequent exposure to the ethnic media. By being exposed to the ethnic media, Chinese Indonesian readers can feel a sense of ethnic belonging and identity through perceived affiliation and shared symbols. However, although they succeeded in bringing Chinese culture back to the Indonesian public sphere, the diversity in the Chinese community challenges the media efforts to construct a definitive Chinese identity

News consumption of major ethnic groups among youth in Nigeria: A comparative study of uses and gratifications theory

Previous studies have focused on news usage among inter ethnic groups with limited attention on intra ethnic groups. Furthermore, these previous studies have not attempted to correlate the news gratifications sought with the news gratifications obtained. These studies have not also attempted to examine a possible moderating role of ethnic migration on the news usage of ethnic groups. The study aims at exploring the relationship between news and ethnicity as important social phenomena. This is against the backdrop of the strong influence that ethnicity has on the personality of Nigerians. Mixed method approach was used. Survey questionnaires were administered on sampled undergraduates in Nigeria. In-depth interviews were also conducted among members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Nigeria. Partial Least Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to analyze the quantitative data while qualitative data were analyzed on NVivo software. Findings show a significant difference among the ethnic groups in their news gratifications. Ethnic migration significantly moderates the relationship between news gratifications sought and news gratifications obtained. Our qualitative data show that the ethnic groups differ in several ways on how they use media for news gratifications. Through this study, ethnicity as a predictor of news usage has been further explored from a peculiar context of intra ethnic diversity. Coupled with the novel exploration of ethnic migration as a moderator in the news usage process, this study has expanded the horizon of Uses and Gratifications Theory. Practically, the Federal Government of Nigeria can use the findings of this study to evolve more realistic strategies for effective mobilization of Nigerian youth

Netizen Aggressiveness Against Religious Content and Diversity on Facebook Media

This research wants to analyze the forms of aggression carried out by netizens on social media in the form of videos, pictures, and memes containing blasphemy bringing the name of God, prophets, and religion, ethnicity, and class related to the blasphemy case committed by Basuki Cahaya Purnama (Ahok). This type of research is descriptive qualitative, the data collection method uses interviews with several netizens and discourse analysis related to content on social media. Based on the results of the research, it was found that there was content in videos, images, and memes that contained aggression directed at Ahok and his supporters and vice versa in the name of religion, ethnicity, and class. Aggressive behavior among netizens is due to the characteristics of social media which allow one to channel emotions safely and instantly because there is no need to meet face to face and eliminate the pressures caused by face to face communication. The most sensitive issues to be used as fuel that is very effective in carrying out aggression on social media are issues related to religion and ethnic and ethnic differences. improve online media literacy skills among netizens who use social media, through formal education and non-formal forums and support from various parties. This research is expected to contribute to minimizing polarization in society due to differences in religion and culture, especially ahead of the 2024 election

Legislative basis of the rights and interests protection of ethnic groups in modern Kazakhstan

Kazakhstan is the multiethnic and multi-religious country on territory of the former Soviet Union. The country became independent in 1991 and built a democratic, legal state, where the highest values are freedoms, rights and interests of citizens. One of the main tasks of strengthening the sovereignty and stability is protection of the rights and interests of ethnic groups and minorities. The country has created and developed the constitutional, legislative and institutional basis protecting the rights of ethnic groups. Modern democratic Constitution, the laws on language, education, NGOs, the media protect the rights and interests of ethnic groups and minorities in Kazakhstan. The legislative framework allows ethnic groups to freely use, study their language, culture and traditions. Restrictions of the rights and freedoms of ethnic groups and minorities, discriminations on the base of language, ethnicity, religion are nit allowed by Constitution and laws. Well-developed legislature regulates the legal basis of use of the two major languages of the country: the Kazakh language and Russian language

Making sense of race/ethnicity and gender in televised football: reception research among British students

Most people today watch football by way of the mass media, sites that reproduce and transform ideologies and ideas surrounding racial/ethnic and gender identity. However, still little remains known as to what extent actual football viewers take up or resist these ideas. Drawing on a cultural studies perspective, this study tries to identify the dominant discourses that British television viewers use to assign meaning to race/ethnicity and gender in men’s and women’s football on television. Eleven focus groups of British students (n = 44) were utilized to explore these discourses. Our findings indicate that viewers from various ethnic backgrounds were largely compliant with the hegemonic media discourses about natural physicality in both gender and race/ethnic comparisons. At the same time, multiple negotiated/oppositional discourses were found in relation to women’s football that showed how other social practices contributed to such readings. Limitations and possible areas for future research are discussed

The ethnic and cultural correlates of water consumption in a pluralistic social context – the Sydney Metropolitan Area

Water resources are subject to increasing stress in many urban areas. Managing water consumption and water supply are key issues for the sustainable development of cities. Despite a growing realisation among water managers and academics that water demand conforms to routines and internalized norms, which are developed within the social and cultural background of consumers, little research attention has been given to the possible impacts that the ethnic and cultural diversity of a population may have on water consumption. This thesis aimed to explore the ethnic and cultural correlates of water use, bridging the information gap regarding water use in culturally diverse cities. Quantitative and qualitative research techniques were employed to analysis water use and conservation related attitudes and behaviors among three selected ethnic communities (Australian, Chinese and Korean communities) in the Sydney Metropolitan Area. The study identified that disparities and differences exist across the ethnic groups in pro-environmental water attitudes, behaviours and daily water use practices. The influence of ethnic factors on pro-conservational behaviours and water consumption was found to be significant, even greater than socio-demographic factors such as household size and income. The diverse coverage of water issues in English and ethnic media, plus the different habits, routines and considerations relating to water use across ethnic groups, were found to be important in understanding the ethnic effects on water use. The results highlighted the importance of including ethnicity and cultural sensitivity issues into the process of decision making in regards to environmental management. This research is significant to understand everyday practices of water use by ethnic groups, and has important implications for water planning and management with regards to cultural sensitivity and equal opportunity

The influence of cultural factors on contraceptive use, fertility attitudes and behaviour in Kenya.

Sociological research on contraceptive and fertility behaviour worldwide has largely focused on demographic and socio-economic factors and only marginally incorporated cultural variables. Given the important role that cultural variables may play in influencing contraceptive and fertility behaviour, most of the models of fertility determination are likely to have been incorrectly specified. This thesis focuses on the systematic study of the role that variables measuring cultural and ethnic origins play in influencing attitudes towards contraception, contraceptive use and fertility as measured by the total number of children desired by currently partnered men in Kenya. Data for this thesis were collected from a probability sample of 2,191 men aged 20-54 years in six Districts, namely, Kajiado, Kakamega, Machalcos, Migori, Nyeri and Mombasa. Both tabular and multivariate logistic regression analysis techniques have been used. This research revealed that cultural and ethnic origins variables (especially ethnicity), age, demographic (child mortality, age at first marriage and number of surviving children) and socioeconomic factors influence inter-spousal communication on family planning related issues and contraceptive use. Attitudes towards contraception emerged as mechanisms through which age and to a lesser extent ethnicity influence contraceptive behaviour. Ethnicity has diverse direct and indirect effects on fertility. It is the most influential variable in the cultural and ethnic origins block and reflects the ways in which people in these groups are socialised into the existing values and belief system. These values and belief system shape attitudes towards contraception. This is evidenced by the fact that the Kikuyu and Kamba whose cultures have been strongly influenced by western ideas especially through education and exposure to media have different positive attitudes towards contraception, are most likely to use contraception and desire small family sizes. On the other hand, the Luo, Maasai and to a lesser extent, the Luhya whose cultural practices have been resilient to change have negative attitudes towards contraception and most likely to be non-users of contraception and desire large family sizes. Thus, the process of cultural socialisation occurs in local communities especially among people from the same ethnic groups, which results in the acquisition of specific normative attitudes and behaviour. Education also has strong linear effects on contraceptive use but its effects on total number of children desired are mediated by contraceptive use, cultural and ethnic origins and socio-economic factors. These findings provide the basis for a model of fertility determination, which is presented in this thesis

Negotiated uses, contested meanings, changing identities: Greek Cypriot media consumption and ethnic identity formations in North London

A large number of Greek Cypriots live in North London, where the sense of belonging in an ethnic community is daily and actively renewed through multiple mechanisms of participation and multileveled communication. A variety of ethnic media, which people consume in everyday life, have their role in the processes of (re)invention and (re)construction of British Greek Cypriot ethnic identities that depend, at the same time, on immediate and mediated experiences in and of the country of origin, the locality and the diaspora. These three spaces - the country of origin, the locality and the diaspora - come together in a meeting point of the virtual and the real, through electronic media. The ethnic electronic media, which are both local and global and which use new and old technologies, challenge the boundaries between geographical positionings and singular categorisations. These media are the focus of this research. In this thesis, I argue that the ethnic electronic media have a vital role for the construction of a new hybrid imagined community, which is neither geographically bounded nor lacks the face-to-face communication, as suggested by Anderson (1983); rather it depends simultaneously on immediate and mediated communication. Traditional institutions and face-to-face relations developed in community centres and alternative ethnic spaces become the immediate context of ethnicity - at the same time, ethnic media become the mediators of ethnicity which is not just local, but also diasporic and global. The survival and the (re)construction of ethnic identities depend as much on traditional community mechanisms and relations, as they depend on the mediated communication of the imagined community. In their contradictions and shifting, ethnic identities continue to be meaningful to people. They depend on a sense of belonging to a community and on sharing common values and everyday culture - both communicated through physical co-existence and the sharing of the media

Verbal hygiene and ethnic politics in Nigeria: a study of selected newspaper print and online publications

The work investigates verbal hygiene as fundamental towards achieving unity, conflict resolution and sustainable development in a linguistically, ethnically, culturally and politically diversified Nigerian society. It tries to establish a connection between verbal hygiene and persistent implosion of ethnic conflicts in Nigeria and the debilitating consequences of such on virtually all strata of national development. Data were collected using purposive sampling technique from select Nigerian newspapers and other textual sources like television and social media broadcast that showcase the speeches of opinion leaders from different ethnic groups in Nigeria. The collected data were textually analyzed through the lens of Politeness Theory of Brown and Levinson. It was found that a strong relationship exists between poor verbal hygiene, hate speech, electoral violence and ethnicity in Nigeria. This work also found out that the speeches of most opinion leaders analysed in this work are impolite and verbally unhygienic and as such impede the positive face of people from opposing ethnic groups, this constitutes serious threat to inter-ethnic relation and cohesion. The researchers recommend that every user of the English language in Nigeria must strive to use language consciously to achieve mutual understanding and peaceful co-existence

Scoping Review of Racial and Ethnic Representation of Participants in Mental Health Research Conducted in the Perinatal Period During the COVID-19 Pandemic

OBJECTIVE: To identify the racial and ethnic representation of participants in mental health research conducted in the perinatal period during the COVID-19 pandemic. DATA SOURCES: MEDLINE, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science. STUDY SELECTION: We included peer-reviewed research articles in which researchers reported mental health outcomes of women during the perinatal period who were living in the United States or Canada during the COVID-19 pandemic. We included 25 articles in the final review. DATA EXTRACTION: We extracted the citation, publication date, design, aim, country of origin, participant characteristics, sampling method, method of measurement of race and ethnicity, and mental health outcome(s). DATA SYNTHESIS: The combined racial and ethnic representation of the 16,841 participants in the included studies was White (76.5%), Black (9.8%), other/multiracial (6.2%), Asian (3.9%), Hispanic/Latina (2.6%), Indigenous or Ethnic Minority Canadian (0.9%), and Native American or Alaska Native (0.1%). Most studies were conducted in the United States, used a cross-sectional design, and incorporated social media platforms to recruit participants. Depression, anxiety, and stress were the most frequently assessed mental health outcomes. CONCLUSION: Relatively few women of color who were pregnant or in the postpartum period during the pandemic participated in mental health research studies. Future studies should develop intentional recruitment strategies to increase participation of women of color. Researchers should use updated guidance on reporting race and ethnicity to accurately represent every participant, minimize misclassification of women of color, and report meaningful results