It was a daunting task before the Nehru-led government to frame a suitable policy of governance for secluded North-Eastern states which were completely separated from the mainstream British India. Due to the historical background as well as the geographical location of the region the government of India has long been tried to integrate the North-Eastern states with mainland India keeping social and cultural institutions of that region unaltered. With the continuous pursuance of protective and proactive role by the government growth scenario of the North-Eastern states has turned out to be satisfactory. Per-capita income has also been growing at a moderate rate and poverty both in absolute and relative term and inequality are declining. However, the worrying factor is that growth is pronounced where government is acting as principal economic actor. In addition, most of the North-Eastern states have demonstrated very poor fiscal condition and solely relying on central assistance. Economic integration sought under a decentralised development model on the failed promise of bringing equitable development across the North-Eastern states has acted as an incentive to raise the demand for special constitutional arrangements, separate state or country based on ethnicity or identity. Finally, occasional use of coercive forces, doling out of funds, and providing autonomy without accountability are the adhoc measures often used by the state to settle the unsettled culturo-social and politicoeconomic issues rooted in the Indian soil based on the notion of the abortive post-colonial Indian nationhood. Resultantly, the grand Indian nation state would certainly suffer from hyper-paranoia and a dreamer for “welfare state” will continue to be interrogated amidst the quagmire of movements based on identity and ethnicity.

Identity in the age of globalisation (a report on Manford Kuhn’s Twenty Statements Test taken by the students from Poland and Zimbabwe)

The global reality, and in particular the extensive network of economic, political and also strategic interdependencies, especially over the past several years, has led to a significant conversion of the educational model. As a result of the real changes taking place, whole social categories can be observed, whose life, work and also study are completely uprooted from a specific place and the concept of “we” goes beyond the borders of the local community. This raises the question of the factors that shape the “self” in the changing global world of the 21st century. The aim of this article is to compare the categories within which young people from Poland and Zimbabwe define themselves and to identify the dominant elements of a description of the “self” concept. The research tool is the Twenty Statements Test designed by the symbolic interactionist Manford Kuhn. McPartland’s (1959) codification key is used to interpret the test results.

Dostuk Radio’s Ethnomosaic Programmes of the Public Broadcasting Corporation of Kyrgyzstan

Kyrgyzstan is a multi-ethnic state in which representatives of more than 100 different ethnic groups live. Media content of Kyrgyzstan reflects multilingualism and culture of ethnic groups living in the republic. Nowadays, the print media (newspapers, magazines) are presented in the information field of Kyrgyzstan, the main purpose of which is the versatile coverage of the life of a particular ethnic group, its interaction in a multi-ethnic society. If the ethno-thematic materials of these publications are not absolute, they can be predominant, which gives the right to classify them as ethnic media. Their founders are ethnic public associations, sources of financing are ethnic communities, and also in some cases ethnic ancestral home. According to the latest data, about 10 ethnic public associations have their own print media. The state provides broadcasting to ethnic groups in their native language in the Public Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) of the Kyrgyz Republic. The editorial policy of PBC is built in the interests of Kyrgyzstan’s population, taking into account the ethnic, national and cultural diversity of the country. In a television format, all ethnic groups in Kyrgyzstan have the opportunity to participate in special television programs of the PBC that cover the ethnic sphere, such as “Wheel of Life (Колесо жизни)”, “Our country Kyrgyzstan (Мекеним Кыргызстан), as well as in ethnographic programs of other private television channels 1–2 times a year. Radio Dostuk (Friendship) was launched as part of the PBC development strategy for the period 2013–2015, as well as complying with the concept of strengthening the unity of the people and interethnic relations in the Kyrgyz Republic. The main content of the radio is created in close cooperation with the diasporas, as well as with the Assembly of the Peoples of Kyrgyzstan. Today, Tatars, Uighurs, Ukrainians, Poles and other nations can broadcast their programmes on Dostuk Radio. Nowadays, more than ever, it is necessary to develop a culture of interethnic relations, interpersonal dialogue in a multi-ethnic society. Therefore, it is important that the media contribute to the strengthening of statehood and the formation of a common civic identity for Kyrgyz citizens.

Museum as a Medium of Collective Memory. The Case of Sarajevo

This article explores the relationships between memory politics and museums. It shows the institutionalisation of the past, which supports both the creation of historical narratives and the visibility of national identity. Analysing the Sarajevo museums dedicated to the 1992–1995 war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the author shows how contemporary institutions have become carriers of collective memory and incubators of the national identity of Bosnian Muslims.

Approbation of the training program for the formation of personal identity of adolescents

The article presents the results of the empirically confirmed approbation of the training program for the formation of the personal identity of adolescents. A study of the psychological characteristics of adolescents’ identity and the factors that determine the success of the identity crisis is presented. The study reflects the implementation of two stages - ascertaining and forming. Reliable and valid psychodiagnostic methods are used: the method «Who am I?» of M. Kuhn and T. McPartland, methods of studying personal identity of L.B. Schneider, Spielberger- Hanin anxiety scale, the test of semantic life orientations of D.O. Leontiev. Novovolynsk high school № 4 named after T.G. Shevchenko was chosen as the experimental basis of the empirical study, with the participation of 30 respondents, aged 14-16. The first stage covers the data collection on the current state of personal identity of adolescents and the factors that are decisive in the process of its formation, among which are: low rates of «Communicative Self», «Material Self»; high scores according to two identity statuses (pseudo-positive, identity moratorium); low values on the subscales «Purpose in life», «Life process», «Life performance», «Locus of control Self», «Locus of control-life»; high level of anxiety. The areas in which the identity of the adolescent’s personality is best manifested have been identified - «Reflective Self», «Social Self». The formative stage represents the development of the training program «Know Yourself» in order to realize personal identity; comparative analysis of the results obtained during the ascertaining and formative research. As a result of verification of its relevance and effectiveness at the formative stage, a significant increase in the “Communicative Self” of adolescents; reducing the percentage of respondents with a pseudo-positive identity and a moratorium on identity; increase in the indicator of general meaningfulness; reduction of general anxiety. The effectiveness and efficiency of the training program are supported by the Student’s t-test, which presents the importance of indicators of the general level of anxiety and the general level of understanding. Perspective for further research is shown in a detailed study of indicators of personal identity crisis in adolescents in the form of empirical research, which aims to understand the success of adolescent identity and assess individual factors influencing the process of overcoming personal identity crisis.

Tackling biography. Building religious identity amidst the discontinuity of intergenerational transmission

The article explores the issues of searching for identity in the third post-war Polish Jew generation. Its purpose is to try to reconstruct the experience of becoming a religious Jew and choosing the Jewish path during adolescence faced with missing or incomplete transmission of intergenerational cultural heritage. The two biographies were investigated in terms of the educational paths of their narrators, primarily informal education, independent gaining of cultural (religious) knowledge, as well as the opportunities and limitations of formal Jewish education in Poland. The research was based on the biographical method, unstructured/in-depth interviews. The article consists of four main parts: 1. the application of the biographical method to own research; 2. the social context of the biography of the “unexpected generation”; 3. two biographical exemplifications; 4. the portrayal of the narrators’ struggles in building their own path in religious education. The exemplifications provided by the two biographies help identify the process of “becoming a religious Jew” in the “found generation”, illustrate individual biographical events and common biographical sequences. Furthermore, the article pinpoints the so-called biographical anchors, including prominent figures, religious authorities, minority organisations, and accessibility of religious education in Polish conditions – factors that contribute to the rise of the “cultural self”.

This text is an attempt to reconstruct how emigrants from Poland adapted to the living conditions in Scottish society after Poland acceded to the European Union. Using the functional perspective, four potential forms of migrant adaptation were defined according to their relations with the social system of the host country. Assimilation, integration, marginalisation, and isolation were distinguished as four essential types occurring with different intensities and frequencies. The adaptation of migrants to new living conditions was analysed using these forms concerning the following three critical dimensions of human existence: the material, the cultural, and the social. It makes it possible to show the diversity of the adaptation strategies according to gender and the problem of working in jobs below one’s skill level. On the other hand, the analysis of the cultural and social dimensions made it possible to identify issues related to the accumulation of family social capital and difficulties in transferring cultural capital between the two countries. The survey also showed that Polish migrants have a high integration potential. However, situations where unfavourable or negative experiences of migrants intensify, may constitute a fundamental basis for developing an adaptation strategy that will result in the marginalisation of this group.

Analysis and Deconstruction of the Main Ideologists of the Russian World Doctrine

The article analyses the three prominent ideologues of the doctrine of “Russian world”: the myth that “Orthodoxy is the basis of an identity”; the myth of the openness and friendly attitude of the Russian people to other ethnic groups and religions, and the myth of the Eurasian/Russian civilisation that opposes the “rotten” West. The existence of these ideologues in the information and symbolic field of Ukraine and the world, manipulating them, and placing them in the actual context of the Ukrainian cultural space, lead to a distorted perception of relations between Russia and Ukraine and the war between them. The article attempts to reveal those distortions and semantic substitutions ontologically contained in the ideologies of the “Russian world”, which can be analysed as typical errors in the context of the argumentation theory. The study aims to develop a conditional “dictionary” of mythologists of the “Russian world”, which could be used during an all-out information confrontation. The author chose the myth “Orthodoxy – the basis of Russian identity” as the basic ideology because, firstly, most other ideologies derive from this thesis with the help of skilful semantic manipulations. Secondly, this myth is interpreted and used by Russian ideologues in various contexts. Based on the analysis of this and two other myths, the author concludes that the ideology of the “Russian measure” does not meet the definition of the criteria of clarity and unambiguity; the meanings of its key concepts are as variable as possible, depending on the context, used with the substitution of meaning in general formulations, which do not provide for clarification of non-standard use of the term; there is a substitution of identities, which makes it possible to manipulate the historical facts and memory of the people; such informal logical errors as recourse to force, alternative to fear, false Scotsman, wholesale bargaining, and source poisoning are always used by Russian ideologues in their argumentative practices. In the process of revealing the illogicality and paradoxical nature of these myths, it turns out that the very essence of these myths significantly contributes to the crisis of culture and politics, which speaks of the same ideologues who glorify the messianic role of Russia. This array of ideological myths cannot be called a balanced system of political dogmas but rather a rhizomatic system of manipulation, the fluidity of which provides its ability to evade counter-arguments and identify historical substitutions.

Narration in Pedagogy – Meaning, Research, Interpretations

The author addresses the position of narratives in the field of educational studies, the meaning of narratives, methodological conditions for research into narratives as well as the possibilities and limits of interpretation related to narrative research. The author argues for the importance of narratives for educational studies, because as a field of knowledge and academic discipline it relies on access to particular forms of individual experience. Educational studies need access to experience related to the subjectivities of those involved in educational processes – educators and pupils. Narratives as a departure point for learning about and understanding another person, her relations with others, intentions and course of her educational actions – as an educator or a pupil – is an important area for educational studies, which promises to open new perspectives of knowledge.

The Influence of Social and Psychological Actiity of a Teenage Club on the Personal Identification Development of Teenagers

The article considers the influence of the socio-psychological activities of the teen club by interests on the development of personal identification of teenagers. Personal identification plays an important role in the process of interaction between a psychologist, a teacher and a pupil, thus stimulating psycho-corrective changes. In this paper, we consider it appropriate to highlight and explore the impact of the club forms of work on the development of personal identification in the process of social and psychological activities. It is pointed out that there are hundreds of teen clubs that operate at the national, regional and local levels and implement a large number of different programs of socially significant direction in Ukraine nowadays. It has been proved that an important place in the system of education of the younger generation belongs to clubs. They are the social institutions that are designed to organize leisure time not only for adults and promote the diverse development of the growing individual. Therefore, all the activities of the club by interests consist of two interrelated parts such as purposeful educational, educational and organizational activities of employees and actve particpants of the club and leisure activities of adolescents. The study of personal identification of adolescents is based on theoretical analysis of existing research, which reveals a field of relevant aspects for further study, namely educational work with adolescents, social and cultural determinism, the connection with the experience of negative affect.

This article examines Chinese-Philippine cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). This is an intriguing issue because, in 2016, many people predicted that China would exclude the Philippines from the BRI framework due to their dispute over the Scarborough Shoal. Former Philippine President Benigno Aquino III had criticized China’s South China Sea maritime expansion, but Duterte changed the country’s foreign policy in 2016. He followed China’s advice and moved forward, resolving differences between the two countries and developing a healthy bilateral relationship. This article found that the BRI framework is critical in this shift in diplomatic relations. China and the Philippines’ interdependence, as well as the shift in identity from an enemy to a partner, have both contributed to the improvement of China-Philippines relations.

Inherited, acquired and individually shaped culture in selected creative biographies

The problem of identity forming is presented in the article on selected examples of creative biographies. The author points out how important in this process is the inherited culture, shaped in the family home and in the local environment. He also indicates how difficult the process of integration with the culture is when this culture is acquired in state educational institutions, conducting an internal dialogue to create an individual culture of being, achieving goals and values in positive freedom and civil disobedience. In the presented creative biographies, the author draws attention to the awareness of experiences and experiences in each of the cultures, to the ability and skill to resolve conflicts, negotiate, reconcile values, patterns, norms in the constant process of identity forming. The author draws attention to the development of a reflective identity project, conscious and responsible choices of content from each culture, the existential theme of the joy of living, being in harmony with oneself, which is particularly important in intercultural education.

Creating an impaired identity of the Other in the educational environment (psychiatricization)

The aim of the article, based on a qualitative study, is to identify and interpret the meanings parents assign to messages conveyed by school personnel about the behavior of students with moderate and severe intellectual disabilities coupled with autism. The main research objective is to present the mechanism of impairment of the identity of pupils in special education, known as psychiatricization. The phenomenon of psychiatricization occurs in situations where school staff abuse and misinterpret the behaviour of people with intellectual disabilities, looking for mental illness in the behaviours they present. One of the reasons for this phenomenon is the misunderstood, behavioural-coded communication of pupils perceived as mentally ill by teachers who are convinced they should be diagnosed and treated with appropriate psychotropic drugs in order to subdue and quieten the awkward pupil. A consequence of the activities and discourse of school staff, i.e. psychiatricization, including stigmatization, harm, abuse of power-knowledge, is falsifying the identity of students, depriving them of opportunities and opportunities for optimal development and satisfying their special educational needs. The presented qualitative research is located in the constructivistinterpretative paradigm, and the mainstream of the scientific narrative is the critical theory.

Literature is a social fact and as such it can be one of the ways to interpret social reality. Therefore, the literature published after the year 2000, with reference to sociological studies on young generation, is found to be an interesting source of knowledge on behavior, attitudes and values presented by young Poles. The article as a contribution to the discussion on the role of literature as “the mirror” of social life is limited to young people as observers (the youngest generation of Polish writers) and as the observed (experiences and problems of young Poles at the beginning of the 21st century). Its introductory part deals with the problem of perception of social life from the angle of literature, and refers to the concept of the considered generation in sociological literature. Its main part presents the sketch for the portrait of fictional young Poles, their lifestyle and values based on the literary fiction. At the same time, this artistic image is compared to the existing sociological data. The use of the latter is subject to the problem key applied in the analysis of the selected novels.

Re-Education in Penal Institutions and Types of Resistance towards Prison Isolation

This article concerns the inmates’ resistance against prison isolation and against the process of rehabilitation change. This article aims to present the results of questionnaire research aimed at establishing the correlation between the type of resistance elected by the prisoners and their prison system (and the choice of specific rehabilitation programs). The resistance is understood as an expression of rebellion against the rejection and may be manifested in the form of aggression, hostility or internal dissension. This article concerns four styles of resistance: transformative, accommodative, passive and aggressive which are differentiated by the power of involvement in resistance and prisoners’ behavior towards penal institution. Resistance to isolation in prison is thus recorded a response to the situation of imprisonment, which is perceived by prisoners as imposed by the unjust restriction. It is bound by the prisoners do not accept coercion and lack of leeway and a sense that the prison staff is trying to dominate them. The research was conducted using the method of test questionnaires were 413 prisoners, prison inmates in two prisons closed type. The study, presented as a ratio analysis can be a starting point for further and extended to the whole country research on the motivation of prisoners to participate in rehabilitation programs implemented by the prison service in Poland.

There is currently a digital revolution ongoing across the globe that cannot be missed. It appears that it is bringing the newest solutions and answers to all latest requirements and expectations that seemed to be out of the reach for many decades. However, it is not only technology that is needed these days, but also societies are seeking credible tools and acceptable option implemented in order to provide an individual a state approved identity with access to legitimate services. Although each of us is subjected to rights and duties based on identity given from the very beginning of our lives, some may not have a chance to present a proof of this identity due to geographic, cultural or social issues. Various organizations both commercial and international, including state ones and NGOs, are concerned of a significant high rate of loss of opportunities by some due to lack of basic identification document, whether it is an old fashioned one or a digital ID. This paper brings some current activities and events for discussion in regards to response to deficiency in terms of equipping citizens of African countries with the latest type of identification document, which contains of access to multiple services. Moreover, while reading the study, it may be noticed the level of devotion and engagement by actors, which includes seeking and employing the best know-how practice and digital biometric traits. Thanks to such approach, some African countries may be already ahead of so-called “western developed economies”. However, digital biometrization of individuals could be a response to modern challenges on one side, and to crisis management and natural disasters on the other. The paper briefly describes the problem of identification with use of digital biometric features in Africa, and it rather invites others to carry out an independent research, as well encourage to discussion on advantages and disadvantages for using biometrics in the process of identification.

A person’s individuality as the source of coping with uncertainty and risk. Reflection of Jan Szczepański’s individuality conception in connection with current mindfulness techniques

The paper attempts to answer the question: how could human individuality be a resource making it possible to cope with the experience of feeling uncertainty and risk? Jan Szczepański’s idea of individuality defines the structure and functions of that dimension of the human condition. It tries to explain the sense of man’s inner world and their reflexivity in struggling with the negative consequences due to the social organisation of collective life. An analytic view of individuality included in this concept allows for revealing the emergency nature of personal identity affected by dialogue between the inner world and the internalised outside world. The discussed concept might increase the attempt to synthesise it with the vision of mindfulness. The effect of it is a unique underlining role of loneliness in the individual process of human development and captures the moral character of individuality (hipo-egoic phenomena).

Systemic struggles of the Security Service against the Catholic Church in Podhale in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Selected examples from the Nowy Targ area

The article illustrates the struggle of the communist authorities of the People’s Republic of Poland against the Catholic Church in the local dimension on the basis of factography contained in the files of the security apparatus files from the 1950s and 1960s. The Marxist-Leninist ideology was to oust the Catholic religion from the consciousness of Poles and to completely laicise society, replacing faith with an atheistic utopia. The text gives examples of how the communist apparatus of power restricted and prevented freedom of religious practice on the example of the Podhale region. The multifaceted nature of the issues of religiosity in the analysed areas made it necessary to present the most representative forms and methods used by the communist authorities, both central and local, whose link directly involved in surveillance and repression was the security apparatus, with the help of local agencies of the communist state administration, including the Religious Affairs, Internal Affairs, Finance, Architecture and Construction, Penal and Administrative Colleges of the Presidiums of Municipal and District National Councils. The ‘people’s’ authorities enacted laws that prohibited the construction of religious buildings, the free public profession of faith, pilgrimages, processions, and the teaching of religion in schools. The communist minority imposed on the vast majority measures aimed at eliminating religious symbols from public space, thus institutions (including educational institutions), forbidding pastoral ministry outside the walls of temples, reviewing statements, sermons, state teachings, taking a wide range of preventive measures (e.g. probing and frightening talks, called ‘preventive’, ‘warning’), as well as punitive ones (bringing criminal proceedings and trials, imposing fines and financial penalties, dismissal, etc.). The text gives the issues and matters dealt with on an ongoing basis by the security apparatus operating in the Podhale region, which described the highlanders as strongly religiously fanaticised and thus not susceptible to the influence of an ideology that was to completely secularise them.

On the problems of identity formation in adolescence – the borderlines of conceptualizing self-knowledge in the face of crisis

The issue of identity formation during adolescence requires consideration of multiple theoretical perspectives and socio-cultural contexts. Identity, being a dynamic process, is analyzed from the viewpoints of humanistic psychology, cognitive psychology, sociology, and cultural anthropology. In this paper, an analysis of contemporary conditions of this process has been undertaken, with a particular focus on risk factors and development determinants. The authors of this text emphasize the significance of early experiences as an identity matrix influencing later mechanisms of integration during adolescence. Referring to E.H. Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, identity crises are presented as natural phenomena that, under certain conditions, can lead to either integration or disintegration of personality. In this context, the difficulties faced by young people in the process of self-creation of the “Self” are highlighted, especially in the face of specific risk factors. Given that experiencing a crisis can be both an opportunity and a threat to development, depending on the support and resources of the individual, the need for prevention and education in counteracting risky behaviors and supporting healthy psychosocial development of youth is emphasized.

Identity and attitudes of academic youth – a Polish-Czech comparative study

The article is a report on comparative studies carried out in the PolishCzech borderland in 2022–2023 among pedagogy students of Polish and Czech universities. The research was placed in the objectivist paradigm and the survey method was applied. The study was aimed at determining the sense of identity of young people, at learning about values, attitudes towards other nations and types of intergroup interactions taking place in the borderland. In order to check whether there are statistically significant differences between the groups in the responses to individual questions, the Mann-Whitney U test was used. In the context of the obtained results, it can be concluded that academic youth from the Polish and Czech parts of the borderland attribute significant importance to belonging to one biological species inhabiting the earth (no statistically significant differences between groups). Polish youth are similar to their peers living in the Czech Republic. The similarities pertain to identification in the system: person – gender – nationality, to positive attitude towards other nations and to values. There are statistically significant differences between the two cohorts in their attitudes towards individual nations and in their assessment of the types of social interactions occurring in the borderland. The specificity and differences have their sources in the sociocultural, political and economic situation of the country in which the young live and in the educational system to which they have been subjected. The future is a never-ending project that is constantly changing. Borderland research is the analysis of contexts in which the construction of the vision and the use of the realities of the existing social space take place. Research on academic youth provides information not only about its condition and the image of contemporary borderland, but also about its desired shape.