Societies

29 pages, 6750 KiB

Open AccessReview

Navigating the Digital Public Sphere: An AI-Driven Analysis of Interaction Dynamics across Societal Domains

by Jasmin Schmank and Rüdiger Buchkremer

Societies 2024, 14(10), 195; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc14100195 - 26 Sep 2024

The increasingly digital nature of modern societies necessitates continually examining how individuals interact in the public sphere. This systematic literature review comprehensively analyzes emerging research on public interaction across diverse contexts. By employing an innovative method of applying artificial intelligence on a large-scale academic corpus, we systematically identified and categorized eight major research clusters: social media and public discourse; public Governance in health and education; urban environments and data systems; group interaction dynamics; complex systems modeling; human-display interfaces; political processes; and public service design. Sub-topic mapping revealed key themes such as digital civic engagement, transport sustainability, behavioral dynamics, and socio-environmental impacts. Our interdisciplinary synthesis highlights public interaction as a multifaceted phenomenon intertwined with technological change, policy decisions, environmental factors, and social constructs. These insights underscore the need for holistic, cross-disciplinary approaches to navigate the challenges and opportunities of public interaction in our rapidly evolving digital age. This review provides a unified knowledge base to guide future research while informing decision-makers on cultivating participatory, adaptive, and sustainable public spheres. Full article

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18 pages, 961 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Emotional Management Strategies and Care for Women Defenders of the Territory in Jalisco

by Daniela Mabel Gloss Nuñez and Silvana Mabel Nuñez Fadda

Societies 2024, 14(10), 194; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc14100194 - 25 Sep 2024

Abstract

The struggles of several women defending their territories and lives are marked by family tensions and reactions to the overload of care tasks and community rules according to their socially established roles. In this qualitative research, we analyze and discuss the cases of three women’s collectives from different suburban and rural communities in Jalisco. Information recollected through the new ethnography approach over six years was coded and analyzed with the Atlas ti program. Results: Women’s defense of their land involvement, organizing, and social mobilization actions move to an overload of care and raise adverse reactions in their community and families in response to what is seen as a transgression of women’s roles. This increases dominant demobilization emotions: fear, sadness, loneliness, guilt, and shame. Through emotional management strategies linked with alternative forms of appropriation of space, starting with their bodies and sharing emotions and actions with their companions, the women in these collectives produced emotions of resistance: pride, hope, friendship, and anger, which led to reconfiguring their identities, family relationships, and roles within other place domains: bodies, family, and community. Conclusions: Women defenders, as principal carers of life, have produced and inherited a set of strategies that configure a growing “politics of the ordinary. “These strategies, through emotional management, subvert dominant emotions, feelings, and acting rules, gradually questioning and reinventing their roles and human and nonhuman relations in their most immediate contexts. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Environmental Sociology — Achievements and Challenges)

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16 pages, 251 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Navigating Challenges and Leveraging Technology: Experiences of Child Welfare Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic

by Sarah Maiter, Daniel Kikulwe, Uzma Danish, Peyton Drynan and Mykayla Blackman

Societies 2024, 14(10), 193; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc14100193 - 24 Sep 2024

Abstract

This qualitative study explores the experiences of child welfare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic through virtual interviews, focusing on the challenges and adaptations in their work and support systems. Participants reported significant difficulties in maintaining a healthy work–life balance, heightened stress, anxiety, and increased workloads due to sick leaves and burnout. This study highlights the dual role of technology as both a stressor and a crucial tool, with rapid integration posing challenges while also enabling continued support for children and families. Despite these challenges, workers demonstrated resilience and creativity, developing innovative solutions to navigate the new landscape. The findings underscore the importance of robust support systems, clear communication, and equitable access to technology. This study suggests integrating lessons learned during the pandemic into future child welfare practices to enhance resilience and adaptability in the face of future crises. Full article

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Societies, Volume 14, Issue 10 (October 2024) – 3 articles

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