New Ideas Concerning Arts and Social Studies Vol. 9

Cultural Values and Global Bioethics: Integrating Universal Principles with Diverse Ethical Traditions - A Narrative Review

2026-10-13T11:04:01+00:00

Global bioethics must address problems that cross borders while remaining responsive to moral traditions, social relationships and histories that differ markedly across settings. The central difficulty is not simply whether universal principles or cultural values should prevail, but how ethically defensible common standards can be specified without treating one cultural model as the default for humanity. This critical narrative review examines the relationship between universal norms, cultural pluralism and diverse ethical traditions in bioethics. Literature published from 1 January 1988 to 5 July 2026 was identified through biomedical, philosophical, multidisciplinary and regional scholarly indexes, supplemented by citation searching and authoritative international ethics documents. The evidence was appraised for conceptual clarity, methodological adequacy, cross-cultural validity, attention to power and relevance to clinical care, research, public health, genomics and data governance. The synthesis shows that strong forms of both moral imperialism and cultural relativism are inadequate. Universal approaches are most defensible when they function as a moral floor protecting dignity, bodily integrity, non-discrimination, freedom from coercion and exploitation, and basic requirements of justice, while leaving substantial room for contextual specification. Cross-cultural research indicates that autonomy is not rejected outside individualist traditions, but its meaning and exercise may be relational, family-mediated and socially embedded. Confucian, African communitarian, Islamic, South Asian, Buddhist, Latin American and Indigenous perspectives expose blind spots in individualistic, procedure-centred bioethics, particularly concerning relationships, solidarity, social responsibility, structural injustice, community authority and data sovereignty. Yet traditions are internally diverse and can also reproduce hierarchy, so cultural accommodation requires safeguards for dissent and vulnerable members. An integrative global bioethics therefore needs four mutually constraining elements: a universal moral floor, context-sensitive specification, inclusive intercultural deliberation and structural attention to power and epistemic justice. This approach offers a more credible basis for ethical guidance in plural societies than either uniform universalism or unrestricted relativism.

From Scroll to Sale: A Critical Narrative Review of Generation Z Decision-Making in Algorithmically Mediated Social Commerce

2026-10-13T11:08:03+00:00

Social platforms have absorbed functions that once belonged to separate stages of the purchase process, so that discovery, evaluation, social validation and transaction now occur inside a single continuous scrolling session. Generation Z, the cohort whose consumer socialisation has taken place almost entirely within these environments, has become the population through which marketing scholarship examines this compression. The resulting literature has expanded quickly, yet it remains conceptually uneven, methodologically homogeneous and geographically concentrated. This critical narrative review evaluates that body of work and asks what can defensibly be claimed about the psychological and social mechanisms connecting feed exposure to purchase among young consumers. Literature was identified through structured searching of Crossref, the Directory of Open Access Journals, Semantic Scholar, OpenAIRE, EconBiz and Google Scholar, supplemented by backward and forward citation searching and verification of bibliographic records against publisher and registry sources. The synthesis is organised around five analytical problems: the contested status of the generational cohort as an explanatory variable; the affordances of short-form video and algorithmic curation that sustain immersive attention; the social influence mechanisms of source credibility, parasocial attachment and peer communication; the affective route through anticipated regret, scarcity and impulse; and the counter-currents of scepticism, fatigue, privacy concern and anti-consumption. Evidence is strongest for the proposition that platform design features reliably elevate immediate purchase impulses and that perceived influencer credibility and congruence shape brand evaluation. Evidence is considerably weaker for claims that these effects are distinctively generational, that intention translates into purchase, or that observed relationships persist beyond the survey moment. The dominant reliance on cross-sectional self-report designs, single-country convenience samples and composite-based structural models constrains causal and predictive inference. Priorities for future work include cohort-sequential and behavioural-trace designs, registered replication across markets, and measurement work that separates platform affordance from generational membership.

The Economics of Climate Adaptation by Firms: Costs, Incentives and Strategic Behaviour

2026-10-13T11:11:02+00:00

Climate-related physical risk is increasingly material to firms through heat, floods, storms, water stress, asset damage, worker productivity, credit conditions and supply-chain disruption. Yet the economics of corporate adaptation remains fragmented across environmental economics, finance, management and operations research, while many observable responses are embedded in ordinary risk management rather than labelled as adaptation. This critical narrative review synthesises evidence on the costs of physical climate risk, the incentives and constraints that shape private adaptation, and the strategic behaviours through which firms seek to avoid, absorb, recover from or transform in response to climate exposure. Literature published from 1 January 2000 to 4 July 2026 was examined, with selective inclusion of earlier foundational work. The evidence indicates that climate shocks can reduce revenue, productivity and operating performance and can raise financing costs, but effect sizes vary sharply across settings and some high-income establishment-level studies find little average impact. Heterogeneity is economically central: size, productivity, financial access, managerial capability, institutional quality, prior experience and network position influence both vulnerability and adaptive capacity. Adaptation is consequently a portfolio problem under uncertainty rather than a single investment decision. Firms use liquidity buffers, operational slack, technology diversity, digital systems, supplier switching, risk management, climate planning and other adjustments, although evidence on their causal returns remains much thinner than evidence on climate damages. Private incentives are also incomplete guides to social resilience because firms can transfer risk to suppliers, workers, insurers, communities or the public sector. The review concludes that policy should focus on correcting information, finance, coordination and infrastructure failures while avoiding subsidies that merely socialise private losses. Research priorities include causal measurement of adaptation returns, consistent classification of adaptation expenditure, forward-looking network analysis, stronger evidence from small and medium-sized enterprises and emerging economies, and direct assessment of whether corporate adaptation increases rather than redistributes societal resilience.

Narrative Drawing Intervention for Earthquake-Affected Adolescents in Rural Western China: School-Based Expressive Psychosocial Support after Disaster

2026-10-13T11:14:37+00:00

Aims: This chapter examines Narrative Drawing Intervention (NDI) as a school-based expressive psychosocial support model for earthquake-affected adolescents in rural western China, with attention to trauma-informed education, narrative meaning-making and culturally responsive implementation.

Study Design: A quasi-experimental field study with a non-equivalent comparison group was used.

Place and Duration of Study: The intervention was conducted in a rural school in western China following earthquake exposure.

Methodology: The eight-session NDI programme combined structured drawing, guided narrative reflection, group sharing, strengths-oriented dialogue and future-focused meaning-making. Although 150 students participated and 120 completed the programme, the quantitative analysis included 64 adolescents with complete matched pre- and post-test data: 44 in the intervention group and 20 in the comparison group. Outcomes were assessed using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales-21 and PTSD Checklist for DSM-5, with exploratory pre- and post-intervention self-portrait drawings.

Results: The intervention group showed significant reductions in anxiety and PTSD symptoms, whereas the comparison group showed significant increases in anxiety, stress and PTSD symptoms. Depression did not change significantly in either group. Exploratory gender analyses indicated reduced anxiety among female participants and reduced stress and PTSD symptoms among male participants. Drawing-based observations suggested possible improvements in self-representation and emotional expression, but were not diagnostically coded.

Conclusion: NDI appears feasible and potentially beneficial as a school-based psychosocial approach; however, larger randomised, longitudinal and independently replicated studies are required.

Migration of Farmers and Agricultural Labourers of Semi-Arid Regions of India: A Special Reference to Karnataka, India

2026-10-13T11:17:38+00:00

Migration is an important livelihood response among farming households in the semi-arid regions of India, where recurrent drought, rainfall variability, declining farm profitability, limited employment opportunities and production risks constrain rural livelihoods. This study examines the relationship between agricultural vulnerability, fallow land, and the migration of farmers and agricultural labourers, with special reference to Karnataka. It analyses state-level fallow-land trends from 2013–14 to 2022–23, district-level land-use patterns for 2020–21, and empirical evidence on rural migration. Total fallow land in Karnataka declined from 2.225 million hectares in 2013–14 to 1.164 million hectares in 2022–23, although it increased after 2020–21. The fitted linear trend was significantly negative (R² = 0.765; p = 0.001), while year-to-year variation remained substantial. District-level fallow land was highly concentrated: the five leading districts accounted for approximately 41.0% of the state total in 2020–21. The evidence indicates that drought, reduced farm profitability and declining local agricultural employment can encourage seasonal and circular migration, while migration may also affect the availability of household and local farm labour. The analysis supports an association between agricultural vulnerability, fallowing and labour mobility but does not establish direct causality. Strengthening rainfed agriculture, rural employment and portable social protection may reduce distress-driven mobility while allowing voluntary migration to function as a livelihood-diversification strategy.

Educational Aspirations and Social Mobility among Marginalized Adolescents: A Socio-Educational Perspective

2026-10-13T11:20:59+00:00

Educational aspirations shape how adolescents imagine their educational, occupational, and social futures, yet their significance depends on the conditions that allow aspirations to be converted into attainment. This chapter examines the relationship between educational aspirations and social mobility among adolescents from marginalised communities from a socio-educational perspective, with particular attention to India. It distinguishes aspirations from expectations and treats aspirations as dynamic, socially situated orientations rather than fixed individual ambitions. The discussion considers how caste, class, gender, family resources, geographical location, and institutional conditions influence both the formation and realisation of educational aspirations. Human capital, cultural capital, and social reproduction perspectives are used to explain the dual role of education as a potential route to upward mobility and as a setting in which existing inequalities may persist. Particular attention is given to the aspiration–achievement gap, highlighting that strong aspirations do not necessarily lead to educational attainment when financial, informational, institutional, or social constraints limit available pathways. Evidence from the Indian context indicates that marginalised adolescents may view education as a means of improving occupational prospects, economic independence, and social position. The chapter concludes that educational equity requires not only high aspirations but also credible, accessible, and institutionally supported pathways through which aspirations can become educational attainment and meaningful opportunities for social mobility.