This chapter argues that building strong institutions and a productive economy in the aftermath of conflict is not enough and that rebuilding lost social capital and trust is of paramount importance. Intergroup trust matters deeply, as the same formal institutions can have divergent effects in different social structures and for different levels of social capital. Starting from the so-called contact hypothesis that fostering positive intergroup interaction builds trust, it is argued that reconciliation and the rebuilding of social trust are also part of the promising blend of propeace policies. A variety of empirical studies are discussed, ranging from reconciliation efforts in Rwanda and Sierra Leone to programs fostering intergroup contacts in Spain, Nigeria, India and Iraq. While we find that more intense group contacts deploy typically desirable effects, trying to achieve reconciliation by altering beliefs through media campaigns is a double-edged sword that involves a series of dangers. We conclude this chapter by stressing the key role of stepping up critical thinking.

The immediate reason for which artefacts are not substances is arrived at only by means of the consideration of matter as parts and the focus on the relation of parts and whole, which is undertaken in this chapter. Indeed, artefacts fail to satisfy the substantiality criterion, according to which no substance is composed of parts present in it in actuality (Met. Z 13). I show that Aristotle regards living beings as constituted of parts in potentiality, while he conceives of artefacts as constituted of parts present in actuality. Because their parts are in actuality, artefacts are not as unified as substances, but because artefacts still possess an inherent form, they cannot be downgraded to mere heaps. Thus, artefacts are hylomorphic compounds, but not substances at all.

More and more donor-conceived people are interested in, and in contact with, same-donor offspring. Moreover, donor-conceived people can find large numbers of same-donor offspring, enabled by more openness regarding donor conception, social media, donor registers and (online) DNA testing. The impact of meeting large numbers of same-donor offspring has not yet been explored. At Fiom, a Dutch organisation providing independent support in the search for biographical information, we conducted a qualitative study interviewing 19 donor-conceived people who participated in same-donor offspring group meetings. Data showed that while relationships between same-donor offspring are commonly experienced as more beneficial than connecting with the donor, they also come with challenges such as how to integrate these new relations into their lives, how to manage group dynamics and a continuously growing network. Data revealed a need for counselling tailored to the context of multiple same-donor offspring contact. Lastly, challenges for regulators are discussed.

Curiosity and a desire for medical history often motivate donor-conceived people to search for their donor or other donor relatives. Social-media platforms offer donor-conceived people and their donors opportunities to search for genetic relatives. This chapter takes an in-depth look at how Facebook was used as a search and surveillance tool by the Australian participants in our national study of donor-conceived adults, recipient parents and donors, including their views about acceptable and more controversial uses of the platform. We argue that the affordances of Facebook and the developing cultures of use by members of the donor-conception communities normalise online surveillance of donor relatives. Our research demonstrates how easy it is to find and watch genetically connected others without knowledge or explicit consent. Our research raises questions about how the concept of contact should be understood in the digital age as donor-conceived people and donors navigate virtual boundaries across social-media platforms.

The relationship between Etruria and Anatolia has been an important topic since Herodotus asserted a Lydian origin for the Etruscans. Seen as the first civilization within the Italian peninsula, the Etruscans held a pivotal place in Italian history, and therefore their origin has held larger political implications for the modern peoples of Italy and Anatolia. This chapter contrasts the historiography of the term “Orientalizing” within Etruria with the evolving presentation of the history of civilization in Ottoman and later Turkish Anatolia. The term “Orientalizing” was a project in orientalism, defining the beginning of Western civilization as it was born from earlier Eastern civilizations, and its historic explanations were used for nationalistic ends. In addition, modern colonialism shaped how Eastern influence in Etruria was conceptualized and guided Italian archaeological missions in the Aegean. In Italy and Anatolia, understandings of their ancient interactions have been influenced by modern political ideologies that sought to assert where civilization originated and how it spread throughout Europe.

This study analyzes the use of general extenders in recorded conversations in English and Spanish between nine pairs of young adult Spanish–English bilingual friends from Southern Arizona. Building on previous studies in both languages, 325 tokens of general extenders were analyzed quantitatively according to frequency, length in words, and function (referential or non–referential), as well as the gender and language dominance of participants. It was expected that general extenders would be susceptible to borrowing in a language contact situation since discourse–pragmatic features often appear on the periphery of grammar and are detachable. However, in the speech of the same Spanish–English bilinguals, contact with English did not appear to influence the use of general extenders in Spanish. No English forms of general extenders were found in Spanish. Moreover, general extenders in Spanish were significantly longer and were used to fulfill referential functions more often than general extenders in English. As the first study to analyze the use of general extenders in English and Spanish in the speech of the same bilinguals, these results underline the ability of bilinguals to both understand and reproduce the subtleties of the use of these features in the two languages they speak.

This chapter presents a quantitative analysis of the frequency and function of you know among L1 speakers of Irish and Australian English and L2 speakers of Polish and Chinese background, residing in Ireland. Results show no significant differences in the frequency of you know in Irish as compared to Australian English. However, you know was highly correlated with I mean in Australian English only. Among the L2 speakers, you know was significantly more frequent among the Polish group as compared to both the Chinese group and the L1 group. Proficiency in English and length of residence were not found to be significant predictors of this trend, although Poles with lower levels of education were found to use more you know. Both L1 groups used more interpersonal functions of you know as compared to the L2 groups, who favored its coherence functions. The findings indicate that the prevalence of you know may contribute to its rapid adoption by L2 speakers, but more close analysis reveals potential challenges for L2 speakers to acquire the full range of functions of discourse–pragmatic markers in spoken discourse. The study shows the importance of examining both frequency and function of discourse–pragmatic markers in language contact situations.

The chapter focuses on gender-differentiated patterns. It begins with a review of Labov’s principles regarding gender differentiation and proceeds to rectify misconceptions about the interpretation of Arabic data. It contains ample examples from a variety of regions and dialects that illustrate different patterns of gender-based variation.

The chapter discusses contact-induced phenomena, the models used in linguistics to represent processes of diffusion, and the principles that govern them. It explains several cases of diffusion across language barriers, borrowing and substrate effects, dialect contact, and new-dialect formation.

In addition to time and place, which are inseparable from sociolinguistic variation, language may vary according to age, social class, sex or (social) gender, ethnicity, medium, style, and register. Contact between speakers often leads to change, and different patterns result according to whether this contact involves first-language (L1) or second language (L2) acquisition. Thus, ‘family tree’ aspects of language change are largely accounted for by transmission (involving L1 acquisition), whilst ‘wave model’ changes can be explained in terms of diffusion (involving L2 acquisition). Languages with a high degree of L2 contact will tend to simplify, whilst stable bilingualism or isolation will often lead to complexification. Contact may be interlinguistic or intralinguistic, sometimes resulting in complex linguistic repertoires, with up to four different levels existing simultaneously (national standard, regional standard, interdialectal koiné, local dialect). Contact may also result in code-switching, the emergence of contact vernaculars, and ‘language death’. The receptiveness of a variety to contact influence depends on the extent to which its social networks are open or closed and on the social attitudes of its speakers. Standard languages emerge through a variety of conscious and unconscious processes, and attempts may be made to give non-standard speech varieties a distinct linguistic identity through codification and the creation of literature.

The chapter focuses on education as a social variable. It critically reviews classical approaches and suggests news ways of integrating education as a variable in sociolinguistic research in Arabic. These approaches are illustrated by examples from qualitative and quatitative studies.

It is hardly surprising that contact-based influence on Arabic, with over 300 million native speakers spoken from Uzbekistan to Morocco to northeast Nigeria, has been important. This article walks through eight different historical and cultural stages of contact, beginning with the under-reported story of pre- and early Islamic Aramaic–Arabic contact. Emerging from the shadow of Aramaic to become the dominant language of the Middle East and southern Mediterranean, Arabic left behind interesting minorities in Andalusia (Spain), Malta, and Cyprus, each marked by special sources of influence from Romance languages and Greek, and in the case of Uzbekistan Arabic, pushed to the point of mixed language status by co-territorial Dari and Uzbek. In the Sudanic region, native varieties have undergone profound influence from co-territorial African languages – Kanuri influence is illustrated here – but only in specific domains of grammar. Elsewhere in Africa, contact has been so intense and so compressed that entirely new pidgin-creole varieties (Nubi/Juba Arabic) have emerged. Arabic-internal contact – inter-dialectal and Standard Arabic – constitutes a continuing dynamic within Arabic societies. Arabic represents an open challenge to general theories of contact – Dixon, van Coetsam, Labov – as important to the study of Arabic as to the study of linguistics.

Substance use disorders (SUD) are among the most stigmatized mental health conditions. We explore the social function of SUD stigma, to demarcate the boundaries of acceptable behavior, and summarize how public stigma, self-stigma, and structural stigma increase harm due to SUD by delaying help-seeking, impairing treatment, criminalizing substance users, and reducing the life chances of people with SUD. We identify a continuum model of SUD, and a balanced view of social and individual responsibility, as potential areas where conceptual changes could decrease stigma. Contact-based interventions, education, and protest are strategies to overcome the stigma of SUD. Addressing the stigma of SUD will help to create a culture of hope, empowerment, and compassion, as well as high quality, stigma-free care for people with SUD.

This chapter models structural variation among Spanish varieties with a special focus on Latin America. Based on a database built on secondary sources, the author analyses structural data from 48 Spanish varieties and contact varieties. The results of the analysis show that contact influence is reflected in the grouping of varieties, especially from a global perspective. Among Latin American varieties, regional groupings appear, showing also traces of contact for individual varieties and the influence of national standards. The results reflect previous classifications of Spanish varieties, and show the usefulness of computational methods in comparative studies of global Spanish variation.