Think About It
Featured Image of Women and National Identity in Türkiye’s Public Urban History: The Case of Ankara City
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Hacer Elmacı
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881-1938) founded the new, secular Republic of Türkiye in 1923. Among the most important initiatives of the Kemalist national program in the early years of the Republic was the construction of the new capital, Ankara. During these formative years, a massive architectural urbanization and modernism program was implemented, visually distancing the nascent Republic from its recent past (Değirmenci, 2022). The history and story of the newly established nation-state have been transmitted from generation to generation through different elements of public history, such as museums, monuments, and statues on the streets. In this context, this paper investigates how women belonging to the Turkish nation have been represented from past to present and how this gendered national identity is constructed through representations in the example of Ankara City. The data of this study, which is based on qualitative research methodology, consists of sculptures, monuments, and museums in Ankara. The data is analyzed through content analysis and social semiotic analysis. As a result of the study, it was observed that women were depicted within the framework of traditional roles such as motherhood and wifehood and as active fighters in the Turkish War of Independence, a significant and empowering role in Turkish history. It was also found that womanhood was associated with pride, dignity, determination, freedom, and cultural development. It is also understood that a particular emphasis was placed on women's role in nation-building and constructing the modern Turkish nation through representation through elements of public history.
Philosophy of Social Cognition
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jevgenija Sivoronova, Aleksejs Vorobjovs
Today’s interdisciplinary context is rich in approaches to social cognition. Social cognition focuses on how individuals cognize reality, which is inherently seen as social, with cognition primarily understood as communication and interaction. Scientific perspectives on social cognition offer different frameworks, such as social cognitive, informational processing, constructivist, and phenomenological approaches. This proposal discusses these approaches and their conceptual emphasis. Then, we argue for the holistic emergence approach or the cognition system to theorize about social cognition. This approach emphasizes the importance of having an ideal image of cognition when considering it. First, we acknowledge the need to consider ontological, epistemological and methodological foundations to understand cognition. Implementing these philosophical disciplines is crucial for developing a concept or theory of cognition having fundamental bases that describe the creation of abstract designs of processes, actions, interactions, agents, objects, and systems of knowledge that mediate cognition occurrences in various contexts and positions. Second, through this holistic approach, we propose to conceive, speculate, comprehend, and explore social cognition and its elements. Third, we also refer to theoretical-methodological modelling that provides a new perspective on social cognition phenomena. The model is not purely abstract; it can also take on a concrete form, making it a hypothetical perfect or optimal model. We emphasize the need to continually return to the idea of cognition, as thinking about it is a fundamental aspect of cognition itself. We hold this model as a mental backing that helps us think about any cognition-related matter.
Justice for Medical Harms? A Legal-Historical Analysis
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Blake Brown, Jennifer Llewellyn
Medical errors injure or kill thousands of patients in Canada each year. This paper provides a legal and historical analysis that explores the traditional challenges of responding to health care harm and shares recent developments in the potential for a restorative approach to patient safety. In the early twentieth century, physicians formed a mutual defense organization, the Canadian Medical Protective Association. The Association traditionally responded to allegations of malpractice by ferociously fighting against patients inside and outside the courtroom. These tactics led to complaints that the justice system failed to address the concerns of many patients and their families. In response to these significant concerns with adversarial justice processes, efforts are now underway to consider the potential for a restorative justice response to cases of health care harm. These efforts have confronted challenges related to the historical developments that have shaped malpractice, including the role of the Canadian Medical Protective Association and the structure of tort law and litigation. This study considers the potential for a restorative approach to health care harm and patient safety to contribute to the transformation of justice and health care. It draws on the current research and system innovation work of both presenters. Dr. Brown is currently undertaking a significant research project on the history of medical malpractice in Canada. Building on her previous work in the field, Professor Llewellyn is currently engaged in an initiative aimed at designing and implementing a restorative approach to health care harms and patient safety.
