In perturbative quantum gravity, the sum of the classical Lagrangian density, a gauge fixing term and a ghost term is invariant under two sets of supersymmetric transformations called the BRST and the anti-BRST transformations. In this paper we will analyse the BRST and the anti-BRST symmetries of perturbative quantum gravity in curved spacetime, in linear as well as non-linear gauges. We will show that even though the sum of ghost term and the gauge fixing term can always be expressed as (...) a total BRST or a total anti-BRST variation, we can express it as a combination of both of them only in certain special gauges. We will also analyse the violation of nilpotency of the BRST and the anti-BRST transformations by introduction of a bare mass term, in the massive Curci-Ferrari gauge. (shrink)

In this paper, we will analyse the superloop space formalism for a four dimensional supersymmetric Yang–Mills theory in deformed superspace. We will deform the \ superspace by imposing imposing non-anticommutativity. This non-anticommutative deformation of the superspace will break half the supersymmetry of the original theory. So, this theory will have \ supersymmetry. We will analyse the superloop space duality for this deformed supersymmetric Yang–Mills theory using the \ superspace formalism. We will demonstrate that the sources in the original theory will (...) become monopoles in the dual theory, and the monopoles in the original theory will become sources in the dual theory. (shrink)

Several novel approaches have been proposed to resolve the problem of time by relating it to change. We argue using quantum information theory that the Hamiltonian constraint in quantum gravity cannot probe change, so it cannot be used to obtain a meaningful notion of time. This is due to the absence of quantum Fisher information with respect to the quantum Hamiltonian of a time-reparametization invariant system. We also observe that the inability of this Hamiltonian to probe change can be related (...) to its inability to discriminate between states of such a system. However, if the time-reparametization symmetry is spontaneously broken due to the formation of quantum cosmological time crystals, these problems can be resolved, and it is possible for time to emerge in quantum gravity. (shrink)

In this paper, we argue that the system of student debt functions as one of the most egregious and yet poorly understood mechanisms by which structural racism is reproduced in the U.S. today. We present evidence that student debt is unevenly distributed across race and gender, show that this pattern arises from policy choices made over time, and demonstrate that these disparities play a significant role in maintaining and exacerbating racial and gender wealth gaps. Our paper contends that the student (...) debt crisis not only erodes the core principles of higher education but also perpetuates a cycle of racial and gender inequality and given the crucial role played by business corporations, urges scholars of business ethics to pay attention to this issue. (shrink)

The first colleges of the Society of Jesus, since the foundation of the one at Messina in 1548, chose to follow the notably participative pedagogy of the University of Paris. The article shows why and how the option for the modus parisiensis was made. The University of Paris, which the first companions knew through having studied there, had an academic structure more centred on the professor's authority than at the other European universities. This, however, did not prevent numerous contacts between (...) the students and the teaching body, with each group having its precise rules. Parisian teaching was progressive and systematic, very open to the culture of the Renaissance, and to ancient languages and authors. The influence of the «Brothers of the Common Life» is clear, especially regards their attention to the human and spiritual formation of the students. (shrink)

An interdisciplinary examination of the epistemology of legal history, which deals with such basic concepts as the subject, object, limits, and internal structure of legal-historical cognizance. Section headings: The evolution of legal-historical cognizance. On the foundations and limits of the subject of legal-historical cognizance. Disciplinary space of legal-historical cognizance. Philosophical historical discourse in legal comprehension.

Religion has been in general neglected or even seen as a taboo subject in organizational research and management practice. This is a glaring omission in the business and society and business ethics literatures. As a source of moral norms and beliefs, religion has historically played a significant role in the vast majority of societies and continues to remain relevant in almost every society. More broadly, expectations for responsible business behavior are informed by regional, national, or indigenous cultures, which in many (...) parts of the world are heavily influenced by religious belief systems and religious institutions. In this essay, we discuss examples of how religion has functioned as a macro social force affecting business and society, discuss some of the key questions and issues related to research in this domain, offer some observations about why religion may be problematic with regard to its effects on business, and conclude by summarizing the articles contained in the special issue. (shrink)

Firms are central to wealth creation and distribution, but their role in economic inequality in a society remains poorly studied. In this essay, we define and distinguish value distribution from value creation and value appropriation. We identify four value distribution mechanisms that firms engage in and argue that shareholder wealth maximization approach skews the value distribution toward shareholders and top executives, which in turn contributes to rising economic inequalities around the world. We call on organizational scholars to study the value (...) distribution role of firms and its consequences for society, and introduce the articles in this volume of the special issue on economic inequality, business, and society. (shrink)

Background: Compassion fatigue and professional quality of life are important in health and professional ethics. Aim: This study aimed to determine the relationship between compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress, and moral injury in nurses. Research design: This research is a cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study. The research community of this research was all the nurses of the teaching hospitals of Ardabil city. Three questionnaires on demographic characteristics, the Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL), and the Moral Injury Events Scale were (...) used to collect data. SPSS (version 22) software was used for data analysis. Participants and research context: The study recruited 297 nurses randomly selected from five teaching hospitals in Ardabil city. Ethical considerations: Ethical approval was obtained from the Ardabil University of Medical Sciences ethics committee (with the code of ethics IR.ARUMS.REC.1401.198). Informed consent was obtained from the participants. Results: The results showed that the mean compassion satisfaction score of this study’s participants was 37.61 ± 8.86, the mean compassion fatigue score of this study’s participants was 28.73 ± 7.04, and the mean secondary traumatic stress score of this study’s participants was 29.95 ± 7.84. The mean score of moral injury among nurses was 31.19 ± 8.54. The results showed a negative significant relationship between compassion satisfaction and moral injury ( p < 0.001). Also, there is a positive significant relationship between compassion fatigue and secondary traumatic stress with moral injury ( p < 0.001). Conclusion: The results of this study show a negative relationship between compassion satisfaction and moral injury. According to the results of the present study, nurse managers should implement educational interventions, create ethical processes, and clear ethical guidelines to reduce moral injury and increase compassion satisfaction. (shrink)

“The journey (the [filmic] narrative) is made by the traveler (the viewer) step by step, pebble by pebble, cue by cue.”Flashbacks in Film: A Cognitive and Multimodal Analysis is devoted to explaini...

The expropriation of marginalized women’s labor is a key issue in business ethics in these times of global outsourcing and informal work arrangements. This has led to a transnational advocacy movement for securing the labor rights of homeworkers, who are poor women working on piece-rate contracts out of their homes. Drawing on materialist feminism, our paper critically explores the homeworker network in Pakistan, that was set up as part of a global push by international institutions and networks to localize the (...) issue across geographies. Our focus is the national women’s NGO that leads advocacy efforts on the issue in the country and its relationship with other actors. Through fieldwork spanning 3 years we find that the network employs a top-down ‘us versus them’ approach in advocacy and mobilization. The race-to-the-bottom between the network’s national and district-level actors for donor funding further undermines prospects for developing indigenous narratives of resistance. The network, while mission bound to enhance the collective agency of its constituency, has depoliticized what should have been a class-based feminist struggle. From a materialist perspective, we conclude that the NGOized network rests upon and feeds off of its constituency, creating an additional layer of primitive accumulation over the workers it represents. (shrink)

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Hopeful and Just Futures Across ScaleIsabelle Boucher, Alex Custodio, Hanine El Mir, Janna Frenzel, and Robert MarinovSituated Solar Relations: Rethinking Scale for the Renewable Energy Age/ Solar Media Collective, Concordia University, Tio'tia:Ke (Montréal), Canada, 05 11, 2023In the face of global climate destruction and ecological collapse, many have witnessed—and perhaps grown numb to—the repeated failures of governments and industries to organize a meaningful transition toward more sustainable social and (...) economic formations. Against the troubling concern that the "novelty" and "impact" of techno-solutions have lost all meaning, the Solar Media Collective asks who or what dictates the scales at which change is made visible, meaningful, useful, and sustainable. In other words, we ask: where should we look for the hopeful gestures that define our future worlds, and how can we resourcefully resist and model alternative pathways to Big Tech's ever-grander "solutions" to the climate crisis? 1On May 11, 2023, the Solar Media Collective—a student-run research-creation group affiliated with Concordia University in Tio'tia:ke (Montréal)—ran a day-long symposium on the multiscalar dimensions of just and hopeful energy transitions. 2Taking inspiration from the transnational Solar Protocol network's exploration into the techniques and affordances of solar-powered computer networking, we asked how, when, and where social, political, [End Page 304]technical, and cultural protocols surrounding renewable energy and the production and disposal of digital technologies can be developed to encourage diverse designs and scales of deployment for sustainable innovations and practices. By exploring these themes through a series of roundtable discussions with invited guests, we attempted to imbue the word "sustainability" with new meaning and reclaim it from corporate optimization rhetoric.Situated Solar Relations: Rethinking Scale for the Renewable Energy Agechallenged the sitelessness of large-scale initiatives by asking what might happen if situatedsolar relations were to become the primary protagonist of research, production, and outreach. Across three roundtables, an interactive workshop, and a showcase of some of our functional prototypes, the symposium addressed creative practices as a mode of future building. Roundtable discussions approached the question of how to build a just solar future through multiple angles: art, literature, and aesthetics; ludic interactions; and social, political, and economic transformations. Rather than taking for granted the principle of "scaling up" that requires sustainability to be replicable and expandable into universal and precise sets of standardized models, we argue instead for the necessity of having (non)scalable, situated, and evolving relationships with the sun. 3In other words, we turn to process rather than product, hope rather than despair, and careful research rather than extractive data practices.Relations of scale are at the heart of these dichotomies. Max Liboiron and Josh Lepawsky have recently argued that power lies in the way things appear to be "true, natural and good," which is determined and reproduced on a homogeneous scale by specific interest groups. 4Intervening against extractive, energy-intensive, and polluting practices therefore requires multiple contextualized and situated knowledges of the processes at play, which in turn requires an understanding of the scales within which energy and waste-defining relationships occur. 5They write:Problems arise when one situated way of knowing disavows its context, becomes dominant to the exclusion of other ways of knowing, or thinks it accounts for all forms of discards. The effect of such monolithic approaches to knowledge can be termed "scalar mismatch," where one instance is taken to be the whole phenomenon, or where one perspective is assumed to work in all cases. 6Scale here is about the specific processes and relationships that matter in a given context. It is not about relative size, nor continuity, but the disjuncture [End Page 305]between different sets of relationalities, whether it be at the planetary, governmental, industrial, or molecular levels. 7Power, they explain, is the reproduction of order in one scale (planetary industrial production, for example), while it disrupts order at others (community or molecular processes). 8In order to disentangle these overlapping but incommensurable scales and to counteract the epistemic grip some have over the others, the authors suggest that it is important to find creative ways... (shrink)

This paper discusses translation practices from a historicist viewpoint, contextualizing them in their emerging “episode.” The latter is a concept drawn from sociology of literature and accounts for the rise of certain discourses and ideologies in a society. On the basis of the argument that translation practices are informed by the general literary and socio-cultural milieu in which they are produced and consumed, the paper studies the translators’ prefaces to three translations published between 1953 and 1978—a period dominated by Leftist (...) and Marxist discourse in Iran. Drawing on a historically oriented model which holds that the translator’s ideology is revealed at the moment in which he/she chooses a text, and continues through the discourse he/she develops to translate that text, the research embarks on studying translation practices on two levels of choice mechanism and prefaces. Prefaces are discussed in the light of the dominant ideology of representation that is characterized by a revolutionary discourse. The research demonstrates that these translators opted for a strategy that incorporates the translations in the Persian cultural setting with minor changes in a way that politicizes the foreign literature. (shrink)

Anchored in stakeholder theory, the study aimed at examining the extent of voluntary human capital disclosures in annual reports of top 20 Bangladeshi and Indian listed companies. In addition to qualitative content analysis of the annual reports for the year 2010–2011, this study also conducted a series of in-depth interviews with a range of stakeholders of the companies of both the countries to understand their views on voluntary HC disclosures in corporate annual reports. It was found that the level of (...) voluntary HC disclosures was very low in case of the companies of both the countries. Moreover, it was observed that HC disclosures of companies mostly composed of positive information. From the views of stakeholders, it was evident that stakeholders unanimously recognized the necessity of credible HC disclosures in corporate annual reports. The HC disclosure index framed in this study may be useful in developing a South Asian model of corporate HC disclosures. This study contributes to the existing literature on HC disclosures where there has been a distinct lack of engagement-based research works. (shrink)

Publicly available information indicates that the collapse of the high-profile corporations during the recent past were due to the unethical actions of a number of major players, including high level managers in those corporations. These examples of the ethical misdeeds of corporate actors have influenced accounting professional bodies and academic institutions around the globe to revisit the issue of ethical training of business and accounting students—the corporate managers of tomorrow. However, little is known about the ethical perceptions of business and (...) accounting students, and business academics are finding it challenging to develop and promote ethics-based accounting and business curricula. This study addresses the research gap. It explores the ethical perceptions of accounting and business students in two Australian universities using three paradigms, that is, whether there are differences between regional and metropolitan, male and female, older and younger accounting students with respect to their ethical perceptions. Empirical evidence provided in this study suggests that while there are no differences in ethical perceptions of the regional and metropolitan accounting and business students, female and older students are found to be more ethical compared to male and younger students. (shrink)

Clothes laundering are necessary during their cycle life, and the mechanical forces exposed to fabrics during laundering were caused to wrinkle. Therefore, in this paper, the wrinkle of the cotton fabric after home laundering was evaluated based on their characteristic. The washing process was done without any softener as toxic material. For this purpose, experimental and theoretical evaluations were conducted. In experiments, the cotton fabrics in various characteristics were washed by washing machine without any softener in special adjustments. The wrinkle (...) of the samples was rated based on the light line method. Theoretical evaluations were studied by the development of a new type-2 fuzzy neural network. In this model the thickness, weight, warp and weft density per inch, warp and weft Tex as linear density, and cover factor of the fabric in warp and weft directions were considered as input parameters and the wrinkle grade of the washed fabric was output. Analysis of the modeling and experimental results illustrates that when eight mentioned parameters were selected as inputs, the mean square error, root mean square error, and mean absolute error of the model were decreased in comparison of the models with two, four, and six inputs. According to this fact, all of the input parameters have an effect on the wrinkle of the cotton fabric after the washing process. (shrink)

The religious rites of Shia remain a mystery to Malaysia’s Sunnite majority. One such rite is the ziyarat (visits to sacred sites). This essay highlights the ritualsconducted and performed by Malaysian Shi’ites during their seasonal pilgrimage to Iran and Iraq. Their rituals and behaviors during these pilgrimages to holy shrines in Iran and Iraq were documented from the standpoint of a cultural anthropologist. Rites from two sites, Mashad and Karbala, are presented in this study. Applying Herbert Blumer’s symbolic interactionism as (...) a conceptual framework, and Charles Brooks’s methodology through social interaction and participant-observation, this essay aims to analyze and understand their rites, and the values and significance of these rites. By doing so, the axiological aspects of the rites were observed and clarified, thus enabling non Shi’ite Muslims to perceive greyest area of Shia rites, as performed by Shi’ites from Malaysia in their pilgrimage to Iran and Iraq. (shrink)

Name der Zeitschrift: Cultura. International Journal of Philosophy of Culture and Axiology Jahrgang: 8 Heft: 2 Seiten: 189-208.

Over the years, there are various research on cultural development seen from socio-historical perspective. The uniqueness of Islam in Malay region as it is diverse and open to outside influences is important to be look at; as it differs greatly from "the Islam" that have been practiced in the Middle East. Based on the discussions, the ulemas or Muslim clerics of this region and the Malays themselves have already practiced the supra-madhhab model as proposed by many contemporary scholars. Using Shia (...) influences in the Malay culture, this paper attempt to show how sectarianism within Islam was never entertained by the Muslims in this region. In fact, Shi'ism was so embedded in Malay culture. Although being dominated by Sunnism, most of the Shia doctrines and pillars were widely accepted and embraced. The axiology of Shi'ism in Malay culture reflected in many religious texts, classical literature and cultural events. However, as sectarianism rising in this region, the Shia influence and its axiology slowly eroded and were victimized by unnecessary foreign interventions. (shrink)

This paper is diagnostic type rather than a solution one. There are claims among certain quarters that The Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1948 is a Western mould human rights. However, I will argue that human rights are benchmark for modernization and progress in democracy, and it is traceable within Islam. Using Syed Hussein Alatas‘s Ideal of Excellence as thereotical framework, my attempt is to highlight the memory of Tanzimat during Ottoman empire as one triumph heritage and successful story of (...) human rights modernization within Islam, and not the moment or starting point of failure for the Ottoman. Unfortunately, this modernization does not reflected in the Malay world as it is perceived as the weakening process of Ottoman. Today, similar challenges faced by Ottoman are being faced by the Malay world. Legalistic Islam and Wahhabism are among others that slowing down the modernization of human righs within Malay world. (shrink)

Whitehead’s understanding of efficient causation is developed in reaction against the prevailing worldview of his scientific and philosophical predecessors’ material abstraction, bodily sensationalism, subject-object bifurcation, and partial subjectivism. Whitehead believed these ideas precluded the development of any satisfactory account of causal relation and connectivity. His response is to offer a forensic account of the nature of subjective experience within which causal efficacy could be accommodated. Yet Whitehead’s position has its own problems. In response, this article argues for a primordial basis (...) to causal connectivity and for understanding physical causation in terms of conceptual realization. (shrink)

Scholars of business and management studies have recently turned their attention to inequality, a key issue for business ethics given the role of private firms in transmitting—and potentially challenging—inequalities. However, this research is yet to examine inequality from a subaltern perspective. In this paper, we discuss the alleviation of inequalities in organizational and institutional contexts by drawing on the ideas of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, a jurist, political leader and economist, and one of the unsung social theorists of the twentieth (...) century. Specifically, we focus on Ambedkar’s critique of the Indian caste system, his outline of comprehensive reform, and prescription of representational politics to achieve equality. We contend that an Ambedkarite ethical manifesto of persuasion—focussed on state-led institutional reforms driven by the subaltern—can help management researchers reimagine issues of inequality and extend business ethics beyond organizational boundaries. (shrink)

Hijab – covering of a Muslim woman's body – is the most visible Islamic mandate. For a century it has been a major site of ideological struggle between traditionalism and modernity, and a yardstick for measuring the emancipation or repression of Muslim women. In recent decades hijab has become an arena where Islamist and secular feminist rhetoric have clashed. For Islamists, hijab represents their distinct identity and their claim to religious authenticity: it as a divine mandate that protects women and (...) defines their place in society. For secular feminists, hijab represents women's oppression: it is a patriarchal mandate that denies women the right to control their bodies and to choose what to wear. The clash has been particularly strident in Iran, where the state has twice intervened with legislation to an extent that no other Muslim country has experienced. Iran, too, has been a prime site for the emergence of `Islamic feminist' discourses that speak of hijab not as a `duty,' but as a `right,' and as a social rather than a religious mandate, and finds juristic arguments to support this position. This article traces the genealogy of this new juristic position from notions of hijab in classical Islamic jurisprudence (fiqh). It documents how jurisprudential positions and notions of hijab in Iran evolved in response to socio-political factors. It concludes by highlighting wider implications of the new juristic position on hijab for establishing common ground between secular feminist and Islamic discourses. (shrink)

John Milbank’s theology argues for a return to the participatory ontology of the pre-moderns in which actuality is understood as rooted in intimate relation to the divine. He rejects modernity’s notion that finite reality can be understood as occupying its own space independent of God. In this context he develops the notion of finite “making” as coincident with the finite realization of the divine. This paper develops how the notion of “coincidence” can be applied to Whitehead’s thought, allowing for an (...) identification of God with creativity and finite “making,” seeking to provide a more theologically satisfying account of God’s relation to creativity. (shrink)

Non-medical or Social egg freezing (oocyte cryopreservation) is currently a controversial topic in Islam, with contradictory fatwas being issued in different Muslim countries. While Islamic authorities in Egypt permit the procedure, fatwas issued in Malaysia have banned single Muslim women from freezing their unfertilized eggs (vitrified oocytes) to be used later in marriage. The underlying principles of the Malaysian fatwas are that (i) sperm and egg cells produced before marriage, should not be used during marriage to conceive a child; (ii) (...) extraction of mature egg cells from single women being unacceptable; and (iii) fertility preservation in anticipation of late marriage is a conjecture that has not yet occurred. Ovarian tissue freezing can potentially be a more Shariah-compliant alternative to social egg freezing, because once the frozen ovarian cortical tissue sections have been re-transplanted back into the woman, mature egg cells can readily be produced, collected, and fertilized by the husband’s sperm only during the period of marriage contract (′akd al-nikāḥ). Unlike accidental mix-ups with frozen eggs, muddling of lineage (nasab) would be automatically avoided in ovarian tissue freezing due to immunological rejection. However, upon critical analysis based on Qawā’id Fiqhiyyah (Islamic Legal Maxims), Maqāṣid-al-Shariah (Higher Objectives of Islamic Law), and Maslaḥah-Mafsadah (benefits versus harmful effects on society), elective ovarian tissue freezing by healthy single women for social reasons would likely be a highly contentious and controversial issue within Muslim communities that may conflict with conservative social-religious norms. This thus needs further debate among Islamic jurists in dialogue with medical doctors and biomedical scientists. (shrink)

John Milbank contends that modernity's attempt to establish an autonomous and secular realm for finite reality derives from a theological error originating primarily in the thought of Duns Scotus. Here both divine and finite reality share in a transcendental univocal Being that understands the divine as merely an extrinsic presence. Addressing this error, Milbank seeks to return to a participatory orthodoxy. This article will argue that in such a return Milbank qualifies in important ways the classical understanding of God's relation (...) to creation and the divine attributes, allowing for a panentheist reading of his work that is both asymmetrical and dipolar in character. (shrink)

© The Author. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: [email protected] book is impressive in some respects, disappointing in others. On the one hand, it draws on an extraordinary range of sources and shines a helpful light on some of the less well known aspects of Mawdūdī’s thought and of the Jamāʿat-i Islāmī that he founded. On the other, it has some gross infelicities, including a murderous (...) translation of an Urdu poem.Abū l-Aʿlā Mawdūdī was a major Muslim thinker of the twentieth century. Hartung is not the first to note that Mawdūdī presents Islam as a system of life, but he certainly is the first to bring out, painstakingly, methodically and against a rich and complex historical background, how Mawdūdī, as Hartung puts it, ideologizes Islam. The long opening chapter of the book... (shrink)