Frontiers in Sociology最新文献

{"title":"In the quicksand: the suspended lives of non-returnable migrants in Italy.","authors":"Francesca Cimino, Beatrice Grasso, Fabio Perocco","doi":"10.3389/fsoc.2026.1897781","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fsoc.2026.1897781","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Although, as in the rest of Europe, there is no precise data on the number of non-returnable migrants, in Italy an estimated 80% of third-country nationals who have been served with an expulsion order have not been returned for policy reasons or due to <i>de jure</i> (legal) or <i>de facto</i> (practical) factors. The category of \"non-returnability,\" first introduced in Italy in 1998, has been subject to various amendments over the years and subsequently divided into distinct categories. These changes have occurred alongside constant modifications in the legal status of migrants, whose rights have been expanded and restricted in line with the changing political priorities of those in power. However, the rights of non-returnable migrants have never been clearly defined, leaving them in an uncertain and paradoxical situation, particularly when it comes to accessing services, health, education, work, and housing, stuck in a limbo between an irregular and a regular migration status. Based on the Horizon Europe Project \"MORE - Motivations, experiences and consequences of returns and readmissions policy (n° 101094107),\" this article presents the findings on the condition of non-returnable migrants in Italy through an analysis of the relevant policy and legal frameworks, as well as interviews with experts, state agents, and migrants. The study reveals that non-returnability does not equate to regularization, thus hampering these migrants' socio-economic insertion; furthermore, it shows that there is much administrative arbitrariness in relation to this category, meaning that different non-returnable migrants find themselves in different social conditions and enjoying different social rights as a result of various factors (for example, the constant variability of policy framework or the local context). Trapped in a legal limbo and with their lives in a social limbo seemingly \"on hold\"-in terms both of their migratory status and their social situation-these un(der)documented migrants find themselves one step up from \"irregular\" undocumented migrants and one step below \"regular\" documented migrants, navigating uncertainty, precarity, and liminality.</p>","PeriodicalId":36297,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sociology","volume":"11 ","pages":"1897781"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2026-08-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13526561/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148866840","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Digital trajectories of acculturation: social media practices among a sample of African female domestic workers.","authors":"Najia Khamis, Samar Ben Romdhane, Sang Lee","doi":"10.3389/fsoc.2026.1854813","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fsoc.2026.1854813","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Globalization and cross-cultural migration have intensified the movement of individuals across national and cultural boundaries, particularly among migrants employed in feminized labor sectors. Within these contexts, acculturation is shaped not only by face-to-face interactions but also by engagement with digital media. This study examines how and why African female domestic workers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) use social media and how these practices shape their acculturation experiences. Using a qualitative research design, the study draws on in-depth interviews with African female domestic workers from Ethiopia, Uganda, and Nigeria. The data were analyzed using thematic and narrative analysis to identify recurring patterns while preserving participants' individual lived experiences. Findings indicate that social media serves multiple functions in participants' acculturation processes. It enables them to sustain transnational family connections, learn about host-country cultural norms and workplace expectations, access emotional and spiritual support, and maintain religious identities and collective cultural values. At the same time, participants' selective and cautious engagement with digital platforms reflects tensions within these practices, as social media can facilitate connection and cultural adaptation while also contributing to digital stress. Overall, the findings position social media as a multidimensional mediating space through which migrant domestic workers negotiate cultural learning, belonging, identity, and transnational relationships. The study contributes to migration and digital media scholarship by demonstrating that social media can simultaneously facilitate and complicate acculturation among an understudied population of African female domestic workers in the UAE.</p>","PeriodicalId":36297,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sociology","volume":"11 ","pages":"1854813"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2026-08-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13526537/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148866588","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Beyond ritual: gender visibility and the commemoration of Jane Austen across cultural contexts.","authors":"Dilbar Khaydarova","doi":"10.3389/fsoc.2026.1941056","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2026.1941056","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This article contends that commemorations of women's achievements should not be dichotomized as either genuine empowerment or mere ritual. Using the commemoration of Jane Austen as a case study, gender visibility is conceptualized as an ongoing institutional process rather than a singular event. Three institutional tracks are identified: heritage sites, hybrid fan-scholar communities, and academic institutions, spanning the UK, US, and Uzbekistan. Drawing on Durkheim's and Collins's sociology of ritual, as well as feminist memory scholarship, the analysis demonstrates that symbolic recognition and structural change are differentiated outcomes shaped by institutional form rather than competing judgments of a single event. The article further explores the implications of this framework for tokenism, intersectionality, and canon change.</p>","PeriodicalId":36297,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sociology","volume":"11 ","pages":"1941056"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2026-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13518186/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148841663","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Risk translation in a compressed meritocracy: a sociological and social-psychological analysis of the Zhang Xuefeng phenomenon.","authors":"Hugh Jiliang Liu","doi":"10.3389/fsoc.2026.1871640","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fsoc.2026.1871640","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Zhang Xuefeng (1984-2026) was a prominent Chinese education entrepreneur, lecturer, social-media influencer, and education consultant known for offering blunt, employment-oriented advice on university choice, major selection, and career planning. His public influence made visible a broader social problem: how families make educational decisions when formal schooling is viewed as the primary route to upward mobility, while the labor market appears increasingly uncertain and consequential. This article regards the \"Zhang Xuefeng phenomenon\" as a revealing case of how educational authority, social inequality, and family decision-making are reorganized under intensified competition. It argues that the phenomenon can be understood as risk translation within a compressed meritocracy: the conversion of broad social uncertainties into concrete decision rules within an education-to-work system in which a few high-stakes transitions appear to determine long-term security. From a sociological perspective, the phenomenon reflects the growing tendency to treat education not only as self-development but also as a household risk-management strategy in a compressed meritocracy. From a social-psychological perspective, it reflects how uncertainty, scarcity, social comparison, and the search for credible authority may make pragmatic advice emotionally compelling, especially for students and families with fewer socioeconomic resources or limited economic buffers. For educators, the implication is to develop more democratic guidance systems that combine labor-market transparency, equity-sensitive advising, developmental purpose, mental-health protection, and attention to both employment realities and students' broader developmental possibilities.</p>","PeriodicalId":36297,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sociology","volume":"11 ","pages":"1871640"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2026-08-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13518182/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148841660","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The goalpost moves to preserve the gate: productivity, extraction, and indigenous educational values in STEMM.","authors":"Karen Colbert","doi":"10.3389/fsoc.2026.1934211","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fsoc.2026.1934211","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Productivity in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM) is never culturally neutral. Dominant productivity regimes count outputs such as publications, grants, and response times while rendering invisible the relational labor that sustains student persistence, faculty wellbeing, and institutional belonging. This Perspective argues that mainstream productivity norms function as gatekeeping mechanisms sustained by coercive institutional isomorphism, and that relational labor is not service overhead but core scholarly output. Drawing on a 2026 keynote delivered at the American Indian College Fund Tribal College Faculty Convening and recent peer-reviewed literature, I identify five pervasive lies about productivity in STEMM (worth equals output, urgency equals importance, self-sacrifice equals leadership, representation equals transformation, and burnout equals impact) and show how each perpetuates extraction rather than reciprocity. Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) occupy a paradoxical position: pressured to perform mainstream \"publish or perish\" norms to survive accreditation and funding requirements, yet founded on missions that explicitly center Indigenous revitalization, language reclamation, and cultural sovereignty. The lessons TCUs offer come not from having solved the productivity problem but from their founding documents, which name what mainstream institutions refuse to name: that education exists to sustain people, culture, and community, not to extract from them. When institutions celebrate diverse faculty while refusing to redesign evaluation systems, the goalpost moves to preserve the gate. The article concludes with implications for reimagining faculty evaluation, resourcing invisible labor, and advancing gatebreaking across STEMM ecosystems.</p>","PeriodicalId":36297,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sociology","volume":"11 ","pages":"1934211"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2026-08-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13506273/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148833154","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Shedding light on dark social: systems-theoretical perspectives on membership-gated digital communication places.","authors":"Jakob Wiesinger, Isabel Kusche","doi":"10.3389/fsoc.2026.1872010","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fsoc.2026.1872010","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This article develops a systems-theoretical perspective on digital communication in closed communication places, focusing on membership as the central principle structuring communication in non-public settings. It combines the concept of membership-based social systems with the distinction between operational coupling and structural coupling in order to analyze whether communication in membership-gated digital communication places (MDCPs) may become consequential for the mass media system and the political system. Although MDCPs have become part of everyday digital communication, they remain under-theorized, especially with regard to how they affect the interplay between social systems. The article conceptualizes MDCPs as communicative extensions of membership-based social systems and shows how different membership logics shape the selection and circulation of communication. It argues that increasing operational coupling does not condense into stable structural coupling with the mass media system or the political system. This creates asymmetries of observation: communication in MDCPs may become publicly or politically consequential, while the contexts that make it connectable across social systems remain only episodically observable. MDCPs thus matter because they can irritate the mass media system and the political system without becoming continuously observable to them.</p>","PeriodicalId":36297,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sociology","volume":"11 ","pages":"1872010"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2026-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13503251/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148819682","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The process of racial discrimination: towards a unified theory.","authors":"Anaïd Lindemann","doi":"10.3389/fsoc.2026.1748904","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fsoc.2026.1748904","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Scholars in the field of intergroup relations agree that discrimination is a dynamic process with causes and consequences. However, the way in which related concepts-such as stereotype, prejudice, or stigmatization-shape this process has never been integrated together in a unified theory. This paper aims to map and describe this process theoretically by showing how these concepts are interrelated. I do so by drawing on seminal works in the field and by linking together middle-range theories that have empirical support. The result is a five-part process model of discrimination that integrates the multidimensionality of discrimination and three perspectives from which discrimination can be studied. This unified theory not only serves pedagogical purposes by providing a synthesized overview of the major theories in the field but also represents a heuristic tool for empirical research on the production of disadvantages in racialized contexts.</p>","PeriodicalId":36297,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sociology","volume":"11 ","pages":"1748904"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2026-08-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13503199/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148819664","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Measuring social emergencies through fuzzy qualitative comparative analysis: a calibration framework using normalized general continuous linguistic variables.","authors":"Noel Batista Hernandez, Maikel Yelandi Leyva Vazquez, Anabel Mariela Abarca Cruz, Lissette Amelia Alvarado Ajila","doi":"10.3389/fsoc.2026.1824793","DOIUrl":"10.3389/fsoc.2026.1824793","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Social emergencies are complex societal phenomena characterized by nonlinear dynamics, multiple causality, and emergent properties that cannot be reduced to simple causal chains. Understanding the conditions that give rise to such emergencies requires analytical frameworks capable of capturing uncertainty, equifinality, and causal asymmetry. Fuzzy Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) offers a set-theoretic approach well-suited to this challenge, combining the interpretive depth of qualitative methods with the rigor of formal logic. However, a central obstacle in its application is the calibration of fuzzy membership functions, which determines how raw social data are translated into degrees of set membership. This paper proposes a novel calibration framework based on the Normalized General Continuous Linguistic Variable (NGCLV), a flexible parametric function capable of taking increasing, decreasing, or convex forms by adjusting a single shape parameter. We introduce one direct calibration method-fitting membership functions to empirical data-and two indirect calibration methods based on partition and linguistic selection approaches. All three methods are demonstrated using a real-world dataset of health indicators across twenty countries, with Life Expectancy as the sociological outcome of interest. We further propose an optimization method that maximizes the joint consistency and coverage indices, automating the identification of the most explanatorily powerful causal configuration. Results show that NGCLVs improve calibration flexibility and semantic interpretability compared to conventional membership functions. The proposed framework advances the methodological toolkit available for sociological research involving small-to-medium case sets, complex causality, and the need to integrate expert knowledge with empirical data.</p>","PeriodicalId":36297,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sociology","volume":"11 ","pages":"1824793"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2026-08-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13500326/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148814400","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Transformative educational leadership as organizational practice: a practice theory perspective on reconfiguring teacher agency and professional culture in schools.","authors":"Nur Efendi, Muh Ibnu Sholeh, Nurul Indana, Fahrur Rosikh, Choiruddin, Nur 'Azah, Sholihan, Imro'atus Solikah, Riyanto","doi":"10.3389/fsoc.2026.1847035","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2026.1847035","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Educational leadership has increasingly been understood as a relational and practice-based phenomenon rather than an individual managerial attribute. However, limited research has examined how transformative educational leadership functions as an organizational practice that simultaneously reconfigures teachers' work, professional agency, and professional culture, particularly within Islamic educational institutions in the Global South. This study employed a qualitative multiple-case study design involving three public Islamic senior high schools (Madrasah Aliyah Negeri) in Tulungagung, Indonesia. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, participant observations, and institutional document analysis involving principals, teachers, and administrative staff. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis and cross-case comparison. The findings reveal that transformative educational leadership operates through everyday organizational practices that restructure teachers' work from individual and routine-based labor into collaborative and reflective professional activity. Leadership practices also expand professional agency through participatory decision-making and foster professional cultures characterized by trust, dialogue, collaboration, and shared responsibility. The findings further indicate the emergence of hybrid professionalism in which teachers derive professional legitimacy simultaneously from organizational accountability, collegial collaboration, and religious-moral responsibility. This study demonstrates that transformative educational leadership functions as an organizational practice that mediates the relationship between institutional structures and professional agency. By reconfiguring teachers' work and professional culture, leadership contributes to organizational adaptability and sustained innovation. The study extends Practice Theory within educational leadership research and contributes to the sociology of professions by demonstrating how transformative leadership mediates professional jurisdiction and fosters hybrid professionalism within Global South educational organizations.</p>","PeriodicalId":36297,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sociology","volume":"11 ","pages":"1847035"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2026-08-07","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13493269/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148798967","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Expressive communication skills: impact on content engagement and personal branding in Jordan.","authors":"Islam Habis Mohammad Hatamleh","doi":"10.3389/fsoc.2026.1848223","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.3389/fsoc.2026.1848223","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study examines how expressive communication skills influence content engagement and personal branding among university students in Jordan. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey was administered online to 400 Jordanian university students. The measurement model comprised three constructs-expressive communication skills, content engagement, and personal branding-measured using established multi-item scales and analyzed with Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM). The results showed that expressive communication skills had a significant positive effect on content engagement (β = 0.214, <i>t</i> = 2.900, <i>p</i> = 0.004) and personal branding (β = 0.543, <i>t</i> = 11.962, <i>p</i> < 0.001). Expressive communication skills explained 4.6% of the variance in content engagement and 29.5% of the variance in personal branding. These findings indicate that expressive communication skills contribute to online interaction but play a substantially stronger role in personal branding. The study concludes that expressive communication skills are an effective component of digital communication and identity construction among university students in Jordan, while content engagement is also shaped by additional content-, platform-, and audience-related factors.</p>","PeriodicalId":36297,"journal":{"name":"Frontiers in Sociology","volume":"11 ","pages":"1848223"},"PeriodicalIF":2.3,"publicationDate":"2026-08-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13489872/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148799193","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}