Life portrayed in regional novels of Hindi

The rapid economic development in China has resulted in the huge migration of people into city and the continuous expansion of urban areas, in which a new kind of urban landscape, named urban village has formed. Due to the high density of buildings and the status of disordered land utilization in urban village, many special and typical street and lane spaces are formed, which are usually neglected or simply managed. However, the crowds of people need a proper public space and public life for adjustment of all kinds of social and mental problems aroused from long-term staying in a narrow indoor and outdoor space in urban village. This research uses counting method, observations, interviews and space syntax to investigate the status quo of public space and public life in streets of Baishizhou Urban Village. Results show that the space accessibility of street is weak and the space comprehensive quality is low. The majority of public activities are necessary activities. People tend to expect different types of activities and functional facilities, as well as a confortable, safe and green environment. We suggest establishing a slow traffic; providing rest and landscape facilities; enhancing safety, and increasing the use of boundary space, which can solve most of the problems considering economic and practical aspects. The approach to investigate the public space and life in this study can be applied to other urban villages, and even different types of public space. The results and improvement suggestions are suitable for other research for the quality of public space and life in streets of urban village.

This chapter discusses how the government of Jordan can strengthen youth participation and representation in public life. Youth trust in public institutions and representation in policy making remain limited in Jordan, with the risk of young people disassociating from public and political life. Governance arrangements, laws, policies and institutions can be leveraged to promote a stronger relationship between youth and public institutions. Based on an assessment of the current situation, ongoing reform initiatives and good practices from MENA and OECD countries, this chapter provides policy recommendations to empower youth in Jordan’s public life.

When it comes to social sustainability debates, public life is either neglected or is little discussed in the research. In fact, for us, it is important to understand public and social life as part of how cities could become healthier and more sustainable. In doing so, we are able to promote peace through quality public life, which would also determine the quality of life (QoL) and other well-being measures in cities and communities.

Cities need social infrastructure, places that support social connection in neighborhoods and across communities. In the face of austerity in many places, the provision of such infrastructures are under threat. To protect such infrastructures, it is important to have robust arguments for their provision, maintenance, and protection. Through a case study of a dispute about the appropriate use and provisioning of an everyday park located in London, UK, this article examines what social infrastructure is and why it matters. The dispute has brought to the surface a number of critical questions about how to fund and provide collective, public social life. It has also raised questions about what types of social and collective life should be valued. To examine the dispute a sixfold typology is developed to explore the different registers of sociality afforded by social infrastructure: co-presence, sociability and friendship, care and kinship, kinesthetic practices, and civic engagement.

The main principle of the state’s inclusive policy is to create opportunities for equal access to social processes for all groups of people who have historically been excluded from public life. The state’s inclusive policy should be aimed at all members of society, providing everyone with equal rights and opportunities to fulfill their potential and improve their lives. The creation of social services and tools for people with disabilities in Ukraine is a relevant way to “include” different social groups in public life. The main objectives of this innovation are to build a network of services for different social groups.The article examines the practical aspects and problematic issues of certain social groups that face barriers that prevent them from fully participating in the political, economic and social life of society.A modern approach to the problem should take into account the effective and continuous interaction of existing public authorities, local authorities and the public sector as equal actors in addressing the issues of “inclusion” of all citizens in public life with equal rights and opportunities. The author summarizes and analyzes the peculiarities of implementation of tools and methods of “inclusion” of various social groups in public life, and presents specific proposals for cooperation between the State and the public sector in implementing the proposed tools.

In this Afterword I argue that public authority in South Asia is produced in a dynamic interplay between ever-more segmented publics and the ubiquity of highly performative violence. Drawing on Indian examples, I suggest that the success of vernacular publics in producing a sense of cultural intimacy within language communities in turn has prompted a new segmentation of publics. This has occurred along lines of caste and community, defined by social experience and symbols, rather than language as such. The concomitant routinization of violence in public life—whether as physical destruction of public property, attacks on other communities, or as symbolic elevations of victims of violence to the status of martyrs—indicate that today valorization and experiences of violence, however incommensurable, have emerged as a universal medium, or general equivalent, in public and political life in India.

Kosovo aims for development of a state over the Kosovo state identity, which includes all communities living in Kosovo. Integration of all communities in public institutions and life remains one of the challenges of Kosovo society. The social distance refers to the extent of understanding of another group, which characterizes parasocial and social relations. Another definition is the lack of availability and relations in being open to others. Bogardus states that social distance is an outcome of affective distance between members of two groups. Earlier studies have shown that the social distance or gap is related to the ethnic background, education level and earlier interaction with other ethnic groups. Also, studies have shown a link with social/political activism. Further, it has been proven that social distance is manifested at three different spatial dimensions, their own self in a reciprocal co-product: physical, symbolical and geometric. The study aims to explicate social distance in a relation with demographic records of respondents to a research undertaken in Kosovo in 2010, in which 1296 citizens (64.4% Albanians, 13.9% Serbs, 6.9% Turkish, 5% Roma/Ashkali/Egyptian (RAE), 6.9% Bosnian and 2.7% others). Social distance has been measured by asking the respondents about the groups or persons they would object in terms of neighborhood: they, who speak another language, have another religion, have homosexual orientation, etc. Comparisons of average social distance in relation with ethnic sub-groups, gender, level of education, experience in earlier trips to the countries of the European Union (EU), size of settlement and the region of origin of the respondent, show significant differences, at p < 0.05. Also, the research also reviewed the link between social activism and activism in civil society and social distance. In these terms, outcomes are less clearer, thereby suggesting that social activism or activism in civil society not necessarily influences the narrowing of the social gap. Outcomes are discussed in due account of permanent efforts to involve minorities in governance and public life in Kosovo.

G-level open space is an effective way to create more open space for public congregation and community life in densely populated cities like Chong Qing, and compact neighborhoods like NFHY. One prototype for modern G-level open space of NFHY was the traditional housing in southeast China; the other was the worldwide modern architectural movement, especially Le Corbusie’s work. Compared to other kinds of open space, G-level open space is distinctive in its dualism; it has the qualities of both interior space and public space. Findings in NFHY show that, with it peculiar space quality, G-level open space integrated private life and public life, making the space more attractive to the residents, especially seniors and children. In order to encourage the developers to incorporate more of this kind of open space in their projects, the government needs to make some compromise on building regulations.

The unprecedented cultural consciousness after decades of black cultural suppression in the South African public life since the 1990s summons us to the need to harness African ecclesiopolitical symbols in public life. This task is executed at a time when the notions of inter alia, spirituality and Imvuselelo are at the heart of the combustion chambers of our public and political life. Imvuselelo is a thermometer of decolonialist rebellion – the militant spirituality linked with Tiyo Soga – and is a self-combustion escape route in instances of black African epistemicide and violence. The heuristic device of iziko (fireplace) is employed to illuminate and locate the reestablishment and anamnestic praxis of protological life-giving foundations of spirituality in the African universe in our interpretation of Imvuselelo. The notion of imvuselelo is illuminated through iziko to debunk the incompatibilities, disharmonies, incongruences and conflagrations of virtual spirituality in its capture and domestication of the resources of the downtrodden.

IN PRAISE OF PLURALISM * RONALD F. THIEMANN Harvard Diviinity School Cambridge, Massachusetts K CENTLY A GROUP of scholars at Harvard University met to discuss the question of whether the United States ha;d entered a. period of moral decline. Our conversations ranged over a wide spectrum of topics: the distinction between priva.te and public life, the relation of notions like mol'lality and justice, the issue of how a decline in morality might be dooumented. The discuS'sion was carried on with a sense of intellectual seriousness and passion but was also characterized by a degree of frustration, given the brea;dth of the topic and the diversity of the participants, who were drawn from the faculties of arts and sciences, 1aw, medicine, government , business, and divinity. Our approaches to the topic were diverse and consequentily our disputes were spirited. Whatever the disagreements among the group, however, we were united by a conviction tha.t such conversations a;re essential if we are to under:s.tand the moral complexity of our pluralistic society. Tihis gathering of soho1ars at Harvard exhibits four important ohamcteristics of the current deba.te about moraility and public life. 1) The recognition that the moral issues we are facing cut a;cross traditional disciplinary lines and require a joint effort by scholar:s working in diverse fields and pl'ofessions ; 2) an awaireness that the plurality of moral positions within pwblic and aicademic life threatens the possibility of consensus on issues of public importance; 3) the conviction, nonetheless, that joint scholarly refieob:ion can have an impact *Ethics After Babel. By JEFFREY STOUT. Boston: Beacon Press, 1988. Pp. 338. $27.50. 489 490 RONALD F. THIEMANN on the moral issues currently vexing American public life: 4) the a;eknowledgement that religion has a role to play in the conversation about the future of momlity and public affairs.1 Jeffrey Stout'·s new book Ethics After Babel is an important and lively contiribution to the current discussion about mora;lity and public life. While the book focuses primarily on issues central to moral philosophy, its arguments have broad implications for debate on topics of importance to public life more generally. Stout'.s work can be seen as an exemplification, expansion , and justification of the four points identified in the previous pM"agraph. But the book is much more than that: it is an extended, sustained, and persuasive argument that pluralism iin public discourse about moral issues need not lead to 1skepticism, nihilism, or relativism. Stout steers a steady oourse between the cultural pessimists who decry our current state as one of hopeless mor:al fragmentation and the intellectual foundationafists who seek to dispel our cultural malaise through some philosophical sleight-of-hand. Ethics After Babel is divided into three major sections. The first," Spectres of MoI"al Diversity," tackles the issue of truthclaiming in moral discouvse and defends non-foundational ethics against the charge of relativism. The -second, " The Eclipse of Religious Ethics," deals with the relation between reJigion and moraJity, reruson and tradition, and with the question of the future of a public theology. In the final section, "Moral Discourse in P·lur:aiistic Society," Stout defends aversion of pragmatic liiberalism and distinguishes his own po.s:i.tion from that of Alasdair Maicintyre and Richaro Rorty. In the·last chapter Stout shows how many of the concepts Macintyre has introduced into the philosopmcal discussion can be used in service of Li:beral social criticism. The reader gilimpses in 1 It is unlikely that the Divinity School would have been represented in any such gathering as recently as five years ago. The fact that no one from the School of Education was invited to join this group is evidence of the continuing marginality of certain crucial professions within American higher education. IN PRAISE OF PLURALISM 491 these final chapters the :beginnings of Stout's own constructive oontriibution to the issues of morality and pwblic life. Stout seeks in this v:olume to move the discussion in poJitical philosophy and ethics beyond the "liberal vs. oommuntarian " issues that have dominruted the recent litemture. In opposition to the individualism and foundationalism that characterize the classic modern...

The fundamentally democratic thrust of broadcasting laid in the new kind of access to virtually the whole spectrum of public life that radio, and television, made available to all. If broadcasting is defensible as a public service it can only be as a service to the public. By placing political, religious, civic, cultural events and entertainments in a common domain, public life was equalized in a way that had never before been possible. Broadcasting, then, brings public life into private life, and private life into public life, for pleasure and enjoyment as much as for information and education. The whole history of the relationship between broadcasting and the world of politics is one of manipulation and pressures exerted on broadcast news and discussion by politicians, parties and governments. To enjoy the services of broadcasting people need at the least a marginal surplus of disposable time and income.

How does cognitive household labour – the ‘mental load’ involved in anticipating, fulfilling, and monitoring household needs – influence decisions about whether and how to participate in public life? Studies suggest women take on the vast majority of this load, yet the impact of these private sector inequalities on participation in public life is underexplored. To make progress on these questions, we contribute new causal evidence about the effect of prompting respondents to think about their own mental loads in a survey experiment fielded to employed British parents. Our main argument is that priming the mental load will crowd out interest in political and labour market participation. In line with expectations, our survey experiment finds a strong negative effect of mental load priming on intentions to engage in politics and at work. Our results offer new insights about the continuing relevance of household-based inequalities to gender equality in public life.

IN HIS PREFACE to The Tragic Muse, Henry James, after a preliminary description of theme as that of 'the artist life' and of difficult terms on which it is at best secured and enjoyed ... conflict between art and 'the world,' 1 then goes on to discuss technical difficulty that faced him in presenting Two pictures in one. The first picture was the notion of a young man who should amid difficulty ... have abandoned 'public life' for zealous pursuit of supposedly minor craft, and second, some possible picture (but all comic and ironic) of one of most salient London 'social' passions, unappeasable curiosity for things of theatre; for every one of them, that is, except drama itself.... The main difficulty, as James describes it in preface, was to find correct centre that would connect two pictures. He expresses opinion that he found such a centre in Miriam Rooth, objectively presented... What was become of famous centre of one's subject? ... The emphasis was all on an absolutely objective Miriam.... Miriam is central then to analysis, in spite of being objective. This is James's claim, and from this point on preface becomes, in effect, a complicated effort to demonstrate that Miriam Rooth is such a centre. In becoming this preface becomes a piece of special pleading designed to disguise one essential weakness of novel: that

Reviewed by: This Earthly Frame: The Making of American Secularism by David Sehat Mark Mattes This Earthly Frame: The Making of American Secularism. By David Sehat. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2022. x + 330 pp. Cultural and intellectual historian David Sehat argues that American secularism developed as a way to honor religious pluralism. Secularism is a product of inter-religious conflict in public life. Over decades such disputes helped to carve out a secular public square. While the Bill of Rights allowed no "establishment of religion" some states retained an established church in some cases for decades after the ratification of the Bill of Rights. Sehat distinguishes "negative secularism" in which the state holds no hostility toward a religion but the authority of the religion has no standing outside of its own community, from a "positive secularism" that actively establishes unbelief (4). For Sehat, negative secularism is no abandonment of belief but instead a commitment to the privatization of religious ideas (4). Conservative Roman Catholic thinkers see such a perspective as inherently Protestant, and not acceptable. Sehat responds that this criticism would fail to account for its support by many Jews and its opposition by many conservative Protestants (5). Sehat's work describes how the Supreme Court from the 1880s until today mostly undermined the hegemony of Evangelicalism's influence on public life, an influence due to the Second Great Awakening. Evangelicalism's influence was weakened due to Jehovah's Witnesses securing their right to proselytize and not salute the flag, the overturning of Prohibition, the debate over public subsidies for Catholic schools, the expulsion of religious devotions from public schools, and the legalization of abortion and same-sex marriage. Sehat presents a detailed history of each case and how the courts handled them. Even so, the story is mostly one of calling [End Page 122] out Evangelical privilege, overturning it, relegating Evangelical or other religious perspectives to a private realm, thereby creating a pluralistic society. That said, there is no doubt that those committed to creating a secular ethos saw their work in virtually eschatological terms in which the progressive, liberating forces of good triumph over the regressive, repressive forces of religion. For John Dewey, unless the world is governed by a non-religious secularism we have a "systematic stultification of the human mind" (117). Unfortunately, Sehat fails to take up the work of a thinker like Robert H. Nelson in Economics as Religion (2001) who documents that democratic capitalism is thoroughly saturated with postmillennial utopian mythology, indebted to, even an avatar of, a religious perspective. The case can be made that no public space exists that is devoid of myth. A blip in the secularist advance is the challenge by Catholic hospitals to the Affordable Care Act over a requirement that would force Catholic hospitals to perform abortions, a worrisome development for Sehat since it permits private religious sensibilities to gain currency in public life (260). Interestingly, up through the 1960s and 1970s, most court decisions favoring secularism were based on the "right to privacy," arguing for individual freedom in private lives without interference from the government. However, since the 1970s, a different, contradictory focus has advanced: the personal is the political, which believes that only by forcing the question of recognition will certain disenfranchised groups, such as gays and lesbians, gain acceptance (221). Surprisingly, religious conservatives increasingly claim disenfranchisement and entitlement. This reviewer questions whether Sehat's perspective undercuts the value of civil associations. Sehat criticizes groups like the American Bible Society as fronts of Protestant imperialism. The implication is that civil associations, especially ones with a religious flavor, threaten individual autonomy; only the state then can protect individuals from such coercive power. But is this true? For example, would congregations of any confession threaten individual autonomy? Sehat's valorization of "autonomy" ignores the idea that humans find meaning and friendship precisely in associations centered on common goals that promote give and take among their members. Overall, such associations enhance civil behavior. The [End Page 123] quest for autonomy or individual liberty assumes that such civic associations are robust and vital. Sehat's vision of America seems to be one where such civil associations potentially jeopardize individual...

The block policy caused by COVID-19 has made public life researchers cannot conduct their studies. However, in recent years, fewer public life studies have proposed new tools to reduce human job involved in data collection process. Hence, this article has proposed a new way to collect public life studies data: watching TikTok live streaming. This research aims to test the reliability of this new data collection method by comparing the contents of Hutong residents' public lives from field research and TikTok live streaming. The researcher conducted an ethnographic investigation in Hutong. In the field research process, the researcher used observation to collect data and recorded it by taking photos and taking notes. While watching TikTok, the researcher selected four anchors who often conduct live streaming in Hutongs to watch and recorded the data by taking screenshots. Data from two different collection methods was analyzed by thematic analysis separately. Results show that the data obtained by watching TikTok live streaming is more comprehensive than that obtained by field research; besides, using TikTok to collect data can sufficiently reduce the input of human jobs. The researcher thought the social function of TikTok may provide more help for data collection. Hence this study advised future research to test the reliability of conducting interviews using TikTok.