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Societies
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Language, Identity and Conflict: A Cultural Perspective from Above and...
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Language, Identity and Conflict: A Cultural Perspective from Above and from Below

A special issue of Societies (ISSN 2075-4698).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 March 2023) | Viewed by 14376

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Anastassia Zabrodskaja

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Baltic Film, Media and Arts School, Tallinn University, 10120 Tallinn, Estonia
Interests: intercultural communication; identity; ethnolinguistic vitality; linguistic landscape; language contacts; code-switching; translanguaging
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

As William Wilmot and Joyce Hocker (2010:11) put it in their book Interpersonal Conflict, conflict is “an expressed struggle between at least two interdependent parties who perceive incompatible goals, scarce resources, and interference from others in achieving their goals.” The main objective of this Special Issue is to scrutinize the concepts of conflict, language, and identity, factors of their relationship formation and transformation across different countries and communities in a diverse context. This Special Issue attempts to connect the analysis of top-down discourses with the analysis of bottom-up reactions to them. Contributions have to follow one of the three categories of papers (article, conceptual paper or review) of the journal and address the topic of this Special Issue. Papers might present the analysis and description of a situation at a macro-level (i.e., the analysis of public and political discourses, including discourses of national authorities, mass-media and expert communities) and/or at a micro-level (life stories of members of various linguistic and/or cultural groups, their linguistic biographies and cultural memory, and personal experiences). The goal of this Special Issue is to create a shared inclusive platform that would help to prevent tensions between the countries and communities caused by linguistic and cultural conflicts, and, thus, to foster social cohesion and sustainable development within societies.

Prof. Dr. Anastassia Zabrodskaja 
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as conceptual papers are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Societies is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • linguistic conflict
  • cultural conflict
  • identity
  • cultural anthropology
  • sociological approach
  • ethnography
  • social sciences
  • top-down
  • bottom-up
  • sustainable society

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 777 KiB  
Article
Raising Students’ Self-Awareness of Their Conflict Communication Styles: Insights from an Intercultural Telecollaboration Project
by Irina Golubeva
Societies 2023, 13(10), 223; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13100223 - 18 Oct 2023
Viewed by 2074
Abstract
Intercultural communication is often affected by conflicts, which are not easy to resolve, mainly due to the clash of conflict communication styles. Direct/indirect ways to approach conflicts, emotional display/control, the ability to empathize and consider perspectives of others, cultural conventions, previous experiences with [...] Read more.
Intercultural communication is often affected by conflicts, which are not easy to resolve, mainly due to the clash of conflict communication styles. Direct/indirect ways to approach conflicts, emotional display/control, the ability to empathize and consider perspectives of others, cultural conventions, previous experiences with conflict, cooperativeness, and many other factors determine our conflict communication styles. It is important to acknowledge, though, that these styles are learned and are not rigid. They can differ depending on the context and situation. This article reports the results of an intercultural telecollaboration project, drawing on four sources of quantitative and qualitative data, i.e., the results of assessments conducted with the Interpersonal Reactivity Index, the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire, and a Conflict Styles Assessment based on the Thomas–Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument, as well as students’ critical self-reflective feedback. The data were collected at a Mid-Atlantic minority-serving university from undergraduate students, who were invited to explore their conflict communication styles through a series of activities and then reflect on their experiences and the insights gained during this intercultural telecollaboration experience. As a result of this pedagogical intervention, most of the participants not only became aware of their conflict communication styles but also developed their empathy and ability to intervene to defend others who are discriminated against or attacked verbally. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Language, Identity and Conflict: A Cultural Perspective from Above and from Below)
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15 pages, 1065 KiB  
Article
Bottom-Up Approach to Language Policy and Planning in Kazakhstan
by Dinara Tlepbergen, Assel Akzhigitova and Anastassia Zabrodskaja
Societies 2023, 13(2), 43; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc13020043 - 13 Feb 2023
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 3092
Abstract
National and world news is constantly accompanied by inter-group dramas which are permeated by the dynamics of language use and attitudes. Conflicts can arise between the state insisting on an official language and the family and community who may support the preservation or [...] Read more.
National and world news is constantly accompanied by inter-group dramas which are permeated by the dynamics of language use and attitudes. Conflicts can arise between the state insisting on an official language and the family and community who may support the preservation or revitalisation of heritage languages. Kazakhstan is an example of how languages (official Kazakh, the language of communication Russian and international English) coexist peacefully. Language policy and planning depend on the ability and willingness of individual members of the speech community to adopt a language. Language planning is often seen as a top-down, government-controlled activity. This paper shows that language planning can also be carried out from below. Here, we analyze the main initiatives of grassroots movements in promoting the status of the Kazakh language and the emergence of new bottom-up approaches facilitated by the Internet and present sociolinguistic survey results regarding the roles, importance and prestige of languages for the people of Kazakhstan. The focus of the study reported in this article is to monitor the transformative character of bottom-up approaches to language-policy study in Kazakhstan. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Language, Identity and Conflict: A Cultural Perspective from Above and from Below)
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16 pages, 299 KiB  
Article
Intergenerational Conflict-Initiating Factors and Management Styles: U.S. Older Adults’ Report
by Yan Bing Zhang and Weston T. Wiebe
Societies 2022, 12(6), 160; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc12060160 - 14 Nov 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2748
Abstract
Guided by the theoretical frameworks of communication accommodation theory and conflict management, this study examines U.S. older participants’ (65 or older) written conflict scenario either with a grandchild or a nonfamily young adult. Using content analysis approach, we analyzed these written conflict scenarios [...] Read more.
Guided by the theoretical frameworks of communication accommodation theory and conflict management, this study examines U.S. older participants’ (65 or older) written conflict scenario either with a grandchild or a nonfamily young adult. Using content analysis approach, we analyzed these written conflict scenarios to uncover major conflict initiating factors and conflict management styles. Results revealed that intergenerational conflict initiated by old-to-young criticism (more frequently reported in conflicts with nonfamily young adults) or disagreement/generation gap (more frequently reported in conflicts with grandchildren) was reported most frequently followed by young-to-old rebuff, cumulative annoyance, and young-to-old criticism. Additionally, results indicated that older adults used the problem-solving style most frequently when disagreement/generation gap initiated the conflict, especially in the family contexts; both young and older adults used the competing style most frequently when old-to-young criticism initiated the conflict, especially in nonfamily contexts. Furthermore, the use of the competing and problem-solving styles by young adults was significantly associated with the use of the same styles by older adults and vice versa, indicating both positive and negative reciprocation in intergenerational conflict. Results in general show that young and older adults manage intergenerational conflicts in different ways in family versus nonfamily contexts. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Language, Identity and Conflict: A Cultural Perspective from Above and from Below)
15 pages, 1791 KiB  
Article
The Construction of Identities in the Pre-Service Training of Social Sciences Teachers
by Noelia Pérez-Rodríguez, Antoni Santisteban, Nicolás De-Alba-Fernández and Elisa Navarro-Medina
Societies 2022, 12(5), 138; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc12050138 - 02 Oct 2022
Viewed by 1651
Abstract
We live in a global society in which conflicts arise from the non-acceptance of existing diversity. To achieve more inclusive and fair societies, it is necessary that education and, specifically, Social Sciences, attend to the development of identities from the school itself. We [...] Read more.
We live in a global society in which conflicts arise from the non-acceptance of existing diversity. To achieve more inclusive and fair societies, it is necessary that education and, specifically, Social Sciences, attend to the development of identities from the school itself. We present a qualitative case study with Primary Education teachers in initial training at two Spanish universities: the Autonomous University of Barcelona and the University of Seville. By means of a questionnaire with open and closed questions, we explored the representations of future teachers on the construction of their identity, as well as their practical perspectives on the approach to identities in the primary classroom. Quantitative and qualitative techniques were used for data analysis. The most relevant results of the study indicate that in the two cases analyzed the students have a mixed perspective on the construction of their identities, in which the elements linked to local, social, and linguistic contexts are more important. In relation to the approach to identities in the classroom, there are some differences and similarities between the groups that make us reflect on the need to promote a model of initial training that links the teaching of identities not only with knowledge of our present and past, but also with social transformation and the future. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Language, Identity and Conflict: A Cultural Perspective from Above and from Below)
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Other

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21 pages, 1226 KiB  
Concept Paper
Design-Driven Conflicts: Exploring the Contribution of Design for Constructing Social Controversies from a Theoretical Standpoint
by Moein Nedaei, Alexis Jacoby and Els Du Bois
Societies 2022, 12(5), 137; https://doi.org/10.3390/soc12050137 - 02 Oct 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2772
Abstract
Controversies are an inseparable part of social systems which, if constructed properly, can create a unique condition for higher-order learning. In addition, design inquiry, as a process of thought and planning, is also a constructive process. This provokes the question of how to [...] Read more.
Controversies are an inseparable part of social systems which, if constructed properly, can create a unique condition for higher-order learning. In addition, design inquiry, as a process of thought and planning, is also a constructive process. This provokes the question of how to construct controversies from a designerly perspective in order to steer higher-order learning. This paper presents a theoretical contribution to the field of social system design by providing the first insights into design intervention to facilitate a network of allied construction. Through a systematic review of the concept of conflict and disagreement, the link between controversies and knowledge transmission is examined in order to highlight the benefit of controversies in a constructive way. Next to that, the essential steps for constructing a network of allies are proposed. These steps are compared with specific aspects of design in order to unfold the advantages of design for network construction. Finally, the paper wraps up with concluding remarks about the necessity of having a bridging step from theory to action in order to facilitate the construction of controversies in a real-life context. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Language, Identity and Conflict: A Cultural Perspective from Above and from Below)
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