Program SOC

16^th Annual International Conference on Sociology
2-5 May 2022, Athens, Greece
Program (Athens Local Time)
(Notes: (1) each presentation includes at least 10 minutes for questions and discussions if available;
(2) some sessions are jointly organized with the business, economics and law division of ATINER)

Monday 2 May 2022

09.00-09.30
Registration

09.30-10.00
Opening and Welcoming Remarks:

• Gregory T. Papanikos, President, ATINER.
• Michael P. Malloy, Director, Business, Economics and Law Division, ATINER & Distinguished Professor & Scholar, University of the Pacific, USA.
• Domenico Maddaloni, Head, Sociology Unit, ATINER & Professor, University of Salerno, Italy.
  

10:00-12:00 MORNING PRESENTATIONS

• Domenico Maddaloni, Head, Sociology Unit, ATINER & Professor, University of Salerno, Italy.
  Title: Escaping the Crisis, Seeking a Better Future, Living Global Lives: Italians in Athens, Madrid and Bogota. 
  Summary

  Current literature on international migration has focused mostly on the flows from the world South. Recently, however, flows from more developed countries have also gained scholarly attention. In this context, the resurgence of migratory movements from Italy may be of particular interest for several reasons. Research already conducted on these issues has in fact highlighted that the recent growth in Italian emigration is not simply a sign of the growing integration of Italian society into the global system. It is also one of the consequences of a series of important social and cultural transformations, ranging from the change in Italy’s position in the international division of labor to the individual search for a better quality of life. In this paper, I will draw on the results of some research we conducted on Italian emigrants in three major urban centers – Athens, Madrid, Bogota – in order to identify the factors behind and the mechanisms that trigger these new migration paths. Although each of the research works has been conducted with the use of qualitative techniques of social analysis – in particular through semi-structured interviews -, I think that an exercise of comparison between the results achieved in these three research experiences may be useful to clarify the rapidly changing picture of the new Italian emigration.
• Aina Dobele, Professor, Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, Latvia.
  Title: Economic and Social Prerequisites for Craft Development in Latvia.
  Summary

  As the economy continues to grow and the buying power of the population increases, the pattern of consumption of goods tends to change. Engel’s law states the following: as the incomes of the population increase, the percentage of expenditures on unique and special or high-value goods increases (Gods, 2008). In the period 2011-2018 in Latvia, according to Central Statistical Bureau data, household disposable income per household member (adjusted for inflation) increased by 65%, which was one of the economic factors in the development of the crafts industry. Crafts should be recognized as a valuable cultural, social and historical asset that particularly contributes to the generation of incomes for those living in rural areas (Jankova et al., 2018). According to the Latvian Chamber of Crafts (LCC), craft production is a phenomenon that goes beyond any era, thereby emphasizing that it is universal and multifaceted but not distinguished as a separate industry in Latvia. In Latvia, economic craft activities are governed by the law “On Crafts”, which stipulates that the Latvian Chamber of Crafts (LCC) is a union of associations established to represent the vocational and social interests of craftspersons and contribute to the development of crafts. The research aims to identify economic and social prerequisites for the development of crafts. In Latvia, according to LCC data, there were 35 craft enterprises (including 23 or 66% operating in the construction industry), 9 master workshops, 295 master craftspersons engaged in 63 fields of economic activity and 120 apprentices. Two surveys of craftspersons and consumers were conducted to identify reasoned opinions on how the public perceives crafts and what problems the craftspersons face. The craftspersons surveyed indicated that the public increasingly appreciated handicrafts (68.6%) and the demand for craft products increased (71.1%). According to the survey, only less than 10% craftspersons did not face any obstacles to doing business in the craft industry. The largest problems for the craftspersons were the difficulty of selling their goods/services (24.2%), a lack of qualified specialists (21.6%, mostly in the category of construction crafts) and a lack of entrepreneurial ability (19.1%). A lack of resources (17.5%) and a lack of equipment and workplaces (17.5%) were also considered to be sufficiently significant obstacles. The results of the questionnaire survey of consumers (638 respondents) allowed us to conclude that in 2020 compared with 2015, the positive rating of manual work increased by 71.6%. In relation to the goods/services produced by craftspersons, the consumers paid the largest attention to their quality (70%), practical applications (53%), as well as prices (53%). The uniqueness of a good/service was also an important criterion, and this feature was important to 38% of the consumers surveyed. An examination of the consumer opinions on social prerequisites for crafts allowed us to conclude that the consumers associated crafts with specific things created, as well as with the fact that the products were made by hand and of natural and specific materials.
• Natja Lavric, Lecturer, MLC Management and Law College, Slovenia.
  Tatjana Devjak, Full Professor, MLC Ljubljana, Slovenia.
  Title: Digitalization in Higher Education.  
  Summary

  The world has changed because of the pandemic. It has affected many areas of our society including the field of higher education. Regardless of our attitude towards the measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus, we needed to adapt to the situation and the new reality quickly. Firstly, we switched to distance education. Such a way of implementing the study process presents all stakeholders with new forms of literacy and new competences to those who carry out the process and those who are being educated. The purpose of this paper is: to analyse social and personal factors that support distance learning and digitalisation of higher education in the future and not only in emergencies; to justify the process of lifelong learning and education and to acquire new types of literacy and competences for successful action in changing higher education; to present a legal formal overview of (absence of) support for distance learning in higher education from responsible parties and finally to present examples of good practices of some higher education institutions at home and abroad. The paper presents the results of distance learning research at MLC Ljubljana and highlights the views of higher education teachers and students on distance learning. It points out good practices and risk factors which can be greatly mitigated using additional education and training in ICT competences and individual and institutional literacy.
• Danijela Brečko, Assistant Professor, MLC Ljubljana, Slovenia.
  Title: The Influence of Fixed and Growth Mindset on Study Performance. 
  Summary

  Students face many challenges by their studies; such as lack of study support, ineffective learning strategies, low motivation, procrastination…, which of course generally reduce their learning performance. Many contemporary authors and researchers such as Dweck (1999, 2007, 2010, 2018) and Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews and Kelly (2007) also point to the great importance and influence of the prevailing way of thinking in achieving learning success. In the background is the idea that those who believe that intelligence is fixed and no longer changes are not willing to put extra effort into learning, while those who believe that intelligence can be developed should achieve better learning outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to present a fixed and growth way of thinking through a crosssection of previous research on the impact of growth mindest on learning performance. We also conducted our own quantitative research on the students population of MLC Ljubljana, where we used a questionnaire to identify the prevailing mindest (Dweck, 2018), to which we added questions to test our hypotheses. We will examine whether there is a statistically significant relationship between growth mindset and learning performance and how the predominant way of thinking affects the testing and use of different learning strategies. Last but not least, we will explore whether there are links between mindset and motivation and procrastination.

12:00-13:30 NOON PRESENTATIONS

• Gerhard Speckbacher, Professor, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business, Austria.
  Title: Values, Performance or Both? How Values-focused Work Benefits from Results-based Management. 
  Summary
• Mostafa Aboelsoud, Associate Professor, The British University in Egypt, Egypt.
  Dimitrios Paparas, Associate Professor, Harper Adams University, UK.
  Ourania Tremma, Assistant Professor, Harper Adams University, UK.
  Title: Price Transmission: The Case of Chinese and World Agricultural Markets.
  Summary
• Rene Drumm, Professor, University of Southern Mississippi, USA.
  Title: We Were Just Stunned:” Christian Parent’s Reactions to Their Child’s Coming-Out.
  Summary

  This paper/presentation highlights findings from a mixed-methods study about parents’ reactions to their LGBTQ+ children who recently (10 years or less) came out. Social research indicates an increased reluctance to accept non-cisgender sexual identity and non-heterosexual orientation among religiously affiliated individuals. Specifically, researchers examined the question of how parents who are part of a religious denomination that traditionally views same sex behavior as sinful (Seventh-day Adventist) react when their child comes out as LGBTQ+. Methods Since little is known about how Seventh-day Adventist (SDA) parents feel and react to their child’s coming out, researchers began the investigation with qualitative in-depth interviews with parents of LGBTQ+ children who had recently come out. The study collected data through qualitative in-depth interviews (N=21) and quantitative anonymous online surveys (N=118). The analysis for this presentation focuses on the following research questions: 1. How do SDA parents of people who identify as LGBTQ+ experience the coming out process? 2. What steps do SDA parents take to understand their LGBTQ+ child? 3. How accepting do parents claim to be of their LBGTQ+ child, and how to they express this acceptance? Results Participants clearly recalled events surrounding their child’s coming out. A substantial majority (86%) agreed that they listened attentively when their child came out. Nearly all (93%) remembered communicating unconditional love for their child after coming out. The participants’ feelings at their child’s coming-out ran the full gamut of human emotions. The broad categories of emotions included: (1) having positive feelings such as relief or feeling honored by their child’s trust, (2) being surprised or shocked, (3) grappling with fears, and (4) having negative feelings such as frustration, disgust, disappointment, or self-blame. After processing their initial emotions, parents grappled with what to do to come to grips with their new reality. For a large minority (45%), this was not easy to do disclosing that they struggled to accept their child’s sexual orientation and/or gender identity. Two-thirds (66%) of respondents noted that soon after their child came out, they were open to exploring ways of supporting their child. The majority (65%) of survey respondents declared themselves as fully accepting of their child’s sexual orientation/gender identity post-coming out. Conclusions The data support the conclusion that the process of their child coming out is filled with challenges. While most parents described their initial reaction to their child coming out as one of unconditional love, many secretly wrestled with conflicting emotions founded in their own religious beliefs as well as fear about whether their child would find acceptance in the church, as well as society at large. Many parents used their child’s coming out as an opportunity to explore for themselves their understanding of biblical teaching on the topic of sexuality, and they often came to an understanding that allowed them to be comfortable with both their child’s orientation and gender identity, as well their choice of sexual practices.

14:30-15:30 AFTERNOON PRESENTATIONS

• Carolina Facioni, Research Assistant, ISTAT-Italian National Institute of Statistics, Italy.
  Title: Why the World Needs Futures Studies: A Social and Methodological Challenge. 
  Summary
• Ali Shehab Ahmed, Assistant Professor, University College Iraq.
  Abbas Fadhil Mohammed, Professor, Alqalam University College, Iraq.
  Title: The Extent of Effectiveness of the Alternative Means in Settling Contracts Partnership Disputes on the Goals of Sustainable Development.
  Summary

15:30-16:00
Claudiu Coman, Professor, Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania.
Doina Drăguinea, PhD Candidate, University of Craiova, Romania.
Title: The Role of Online Media Channels in Portraying the Positive and Negative Effects of the COVID-19 Vaccine. 

16:00-16:30
Maria Cristina Bularca, Master Student, Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania.
Radu Tudorica, PhD Student, University of Craiova, Romania.
Title: The Process of Communication and Promotion of European Universities on Social Networks during the COVID-19 Pandemic. 

16:30-17:00
Miguel Farinha Dos Santos Da Silva Graça, Senior Researcher, University Coimbra, Portugal.
Title: Lockdown Democracy or A New Era of Digital Citizenship? Online Civic And Engagement and Participatory Budgeting on Pandemic Times. 

17:00-17:30
Chinwe Egbunike-Umegbolu, Lecturer, University of Brighton, UK.
Title: The Functionality of the Election Tribunal in Nigeria concerning Election Petition. 

17:30-18:00
Marta Picchi, Associate Professor, University of Florence, Italy.
Title: The “one in, one out” Approach in the New Communication on the Better Regulation. 

18:00-18:30
Larisa Hrzic, Assistant Professor, University of Split, Croatia.
Marija Loncar, Associate Professor, University of Split, Croatia.
Zorana Suljug Vucica, Associate Professor, University of Split, Croatia.
Title: Aspect of Housing of the Youth in Split (Croatia). 

18:30-19:00
Joseph Michalski, Professor, King’s University College at Western, Canada.
Title: An Integrated, Multi-Level Approach to Interpersonal Aggression and Violence. 

20:00-22:00
Greek Night

Tuesday 3 May 2022

08:00-11:00 Urban Walk

11:00-11:30
Maria Pallotta-Chiarolli, Fellow, Deakin University, Australia.
Title: Mobs and Wogs: Stories of Strength, Survival, and Suitcases. 

11:30-14:00 MORNING / NOON PRESENTATIONS

• Wim Vandekerckhove, Professor, University of Greenwich, UK.
  Title: Rethinking Moral Ontology for Business Ethics.
  Summary

  There is recently a renewed attention for realist ontologies in social sciences. This paper explores the implication of realist ontology for business ethics. Business and management scholarship is mainly based on an intersubjective ontology, in which social constructions – such as markets, governance instruments, reputation, trust, etc – constitute what organizations are and what brings them to fail or succeed. Important accepted normative benchmarks (e.g. ILO, GRI, ISO) base their validity on stakeholder consensus, and thus also have an intersubjective ontology. However, recent challenges to which businesses have to respond stem from a realist moral ontology: climate change, historical slave trade involvement, sexual harassment at work. Debates around these issues indicate that consensus is not a sufficient base for normative validity. The aim of the paper is to seek a combination of realist and intersubjective ontology that is plausible for business ethics. To that end, the paper explores how realist ontological assumptions need to be understood for business to remain possible.
• Marc Roux, Chair, Association Française Transhumaniste – Technoprog, France.
  Title: Transhumanism in Greece?
  Summary

  In recent years, Transhumanism has begun to be studied in Greece. One can find articles and even some entire conferences devoted to it. On its relationship to Law, or to Art, etc.. However, maybe the main ethical questions posed by transhumanism to Greece and the Greeks should be different. Should they be that of Longevityism, which invites us to a great medical paradigm shift, thinking of ageing as a disease? Should it be that of moral enhancement, which dares to consider touching the brain in order to improve our cognitive capacities and allow us to modulate our emotions? Indeed, in general, transhumanists propose to return from “the map to the territory”, that is to say to distrust the abstract constructions that we have drawn to try to circumscribe reality. They encourage us to stop considering limits as taboos. That said, we could also consider that an authentically Greek thought would have something to say to rethink the place of the ancient Greek thought tradition in view of transhumanism: Wouldn’t the Greeks be the most legitimate to criticize the concept of hubris, to rethink the relationship to measure? Wouldn’t they be in the best position to criticise the dialectic? I believe that it is fundamental to Think, in Greek, a Greek transhumanism. We must not be satisfied with translating Anglo-Saxon (or even French-speaking) transhumanism, but choose ways of thinking about transhumanism with Greek words. We need to multiply and deepen the debates to choose the meaning to be given to “dianthropismos”, “metanthropismos”, “hyperanthropismos”, etc. How to think in Greek about “enhancement”, “moral enhancement”? And this debate should not be left to Greek bio-conservatism. Various Greek thinkers have been looking at transhumanist thought for the past decade, for example encouraged by Stefan Sörgner such as Evi Sampanikou (University of the Aegean), or Μαρία Κανελλοπούλου-Μπότη, professor of law at the Ionian University, as well as the Greek members of STOA, starting with its director, Theodore Karapipieris, or Charalambos Tsekeris, of the Hellenic National Commission for Bioethics & Technoethics. But no one in the academic world dares to go as far as Stefan Sörgner in Germany, James Hughes in the United States, Raphaël Liogier in France, and above all the team of the Future of Humanity Institute, around Nick Bostrom, in Great Britain. However, it is not enough to try to analyse transhumanism from the outside in order to give it to a population to understand. There is good reason to believe that transhumanism, in one form or another, is the path on which humanity has begun to move. The Greeks, like other peoples, rather than watching these upheavals progress by remaining spectators, before adopting it on the terms decided by others, must start thinking about their transhumanism. Civil society, bludgeoned by more than ten years of successive crises, has not yet been able to structure itself to bring out popular interpretations of transhumanism. In these conditions, the academic world can play its role of enlightener and mediator.
• Virginia Jureniene, Professor, Vilnius University, Lithuania.
  Title: Peculiarities of Social Development: Aspect of Gender Equality. 
  Summary
• Daile Lynn Rung, Research Fellow, Charles Darwin University, Australia.
  Title: Exploring the intersections of temporary migration, COVID-19 support policies, and migrant men’s wellbeing in Australia.  
  Summary
• Ingrida Veiksa, Head, Turiba University, Latvia.
  Title: Use of Copyrighted Content in Businel. 
  Summary

  Copyright is twofold: moral and economic. Moral rights are not considered property, but an aspect of the author’s personality. Moral rights are based on the idea of protecting the author outside his economic interests, namely his intellectual, artistic and similar non-material interests. Although the wording of the articles varies from country to country, the minimum standards for the protection of the moral rights of authors are met in all 180 countries that have acceded to the Berne Convention. Today, the moral rights of authors are no longer as simple and broad as they were when the Berne Convention was adopted. At the current level of technological development, moral rights can sometimes hinder the use of many co-authored works (such as computer programs, architectural projects, films, etc.). In this article, the author will study mainly one moral right – the right to withdraw a work. Such a right creates legal uncertainty for the business, as any author may withdraw a work at any time, including work created in the employment relationship or work involving a large number of people. There is only a requirement to compensate the user for the damage caused, without setting any deadlines for compensation, nor asking the author to prove that he is able to compensate the damage at all. While agreeing that moral rights are inalienable and therefore cannot be transferred in author’s life time, it would be necessary to allow the author to agree with the user of the work whether and how the author will (or will not) exercise these rights in relation to the work and its uses.

14:00-15:00 Lunch

15:00-16:30 AFTERNOON PRESENTATIONS

• Andra Zvirbule, Professor, Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies, Latvia.
  Title: Interaction between Staff Motivation and Loyalty at Consulting Companies. 
  Summary

  At a time when company makes major changes and restructuring, companies face with a major problem, which is the employee motivation and loyalty to the company. One of the challenges for companies is attracting new employees, but at the same time ensuring that existing employees are motivated, focused on work and want to invest their knowledge in companies future. More and more large companies understand that motivated and loyal employees work better and helps to achieve higher business results, companies are starting to study how to motivate employees and maintain their loyalty. The aim of the research is to find out the key motivation factors for staff and the aspects of staff loyalty in the consulting company. The following tasks had been used to achieve the aim: 1. make a scientific discussion on the theoretical aspects of motivation and loyalty; 2. describe the economic activities and staff indicators which are directed towards achieving the objectives of the consultancy company; 3. assess motivation systems and personnel loyalty, factors and interaction between them Study methods: descriptive or monographic method, survey method, graphic method, document analysis, logically constructive method, method of analysis, statistical method, analysis of Kendala W coefficient. The research object : “Latvian Rural Consultation and Education Centre” Conducting research the author concluded that the employees most appreciated motivating factors, wages, bonuses, stable job, relations with colleagues and direct managers, flexible working hours and a pleasant microclimate at the company, which supported Maslow’s theory of needs that employees would be willing to meet physical needs, safety needs from the beginning. The motivation system developed by the company partly meets the needs of employees.
• Gyula László Florian, Assistant Professor, Partium Christian University, Romania.
  Title: Priorities and Strategic-Tactical Perspectives of the Romanian Management in the European Context Strongly Marked By the Covid-19 Pandemic.
  Summary
• Derya Guvenir, Research Assistant, İzmir University of Economy, Turkey.
  Title: Minority Shareholder’s Right to Request the Postponement of General Meetings of Joint Stock Companies in Turkish Law.
  Summary

16:30-17:00
Sabrina Moretti, Associate Professor, University of Urbino, Italy.
Title: Patient Engagement in the R&D Process of Biotech Firms. 

17:00-17:30
Luca Serafini, Adjunct Professor, Lumsa University of Rome, Italy.
Title: Redefining the Concept of ‘Parajournalism’ in the Age of Social Media.  

17:30-18:00
Elena-Otilia Țiroiu, PhD Student University of Craiova, Romania.
Title: School Climate Improvement Programs.  

18:00-18:30
Almudena Moreno, PhD Student, Public University of Navarra, Spain.
Title: Trend in Mortality from Diabetes in Rural and Urban Areas in Spain. 

18:30-19:00
Denis Bernardeau-Moreau, Professor, University of Lille, France.
Title: The Professionalization of Associations in France. 

20:00-21:30
Dinner

Wednesday 4 May 2022
Educational Islands Cruise
Mycenae Visit

Thursday 5 May 2022
Delphi Tour