International Journal of Social Quality

The contours of the “social quality perspective” have recently been revised and developed by a team of scholars from Eastern and Western Europe. This began to take shape in 2016 and was extended in a working paper of the International Association of Social Quality with contributions from the Academy of Sciences of Ukraine (IASQ 2019: 48–56)—namely, Working Paper 17/b. The latter discussion became more important in response to the tragedy of the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022. This raised the urgency of the question of what the policy application of the social quality perspective means.

This study concerns a geospatial analysis of public healthcare infrastructure in Haryana, India, focusing on the availability and accessibility of healthcare facilities. The analysis revealed significant disparities in the distribution of such infrastructure in Haryana. A shortfall was found in the presence of community health centers (CHCs), primary health centers (PHCs), dispensaries, and health subcenters (HSCs). The findings in terms of disparities strongly point to and signify the shortfall of national and regional public health policies. There is a pressing need for strategic planning to address the escalating demand for and access to new health facilities among Haryana's population. Personal and population health—and therefore healthcare infrastructure—is a crucial component and indicator of the Human Development Index, and is a key factor in increasing labor productivity, obtaining higher levels of well-being, and boosting economic prosperity, as are “health promotion” measures in welfare and other societal dimensions and the heeding of societal ethics.

This article explores issues of gender inequality in Ukraine. Gender-related issues have been exacerbated due to the full-scale invasion of the country by the Russian Federation on 24 February 2022. This tragic event has led us to adapt our research by addressing gender challenges before and after the invasion. Deploying the social quality approach, we distinguish gender processes in four dimensions: socioeconomic/financial (e.g., participation in labor activities), sociopolitical/legal (e.g., political inclusion), and sociocultural/welfare (e.g., deprivation and daily discrimination). We pay particular attention to legal aspects of gender equality and equal rights and opportunities in international and Ukrainian legislation. Finally, we clarify and substantiate the specific features of gender issues in Ukraine amid the current reality of military conflict.

Against the backdrop of the recent 2022 floods in Pakistan, this article investigates the resilient capacity of 121 vulnerable flood-affected households in the Matiari District. It examines the role of their personal and societal capacities in preventing displacement, and it introduces a new conceptual model related to social capital theory. Based on this model, it empirically examines the situation of these households through a survey based on the Disaster Adaptation and Resilience Scale. The findings suggest that households with relatively high levels of stored capacities are less likely to be relocated and thus more likely to escape displacement. However, a few households with higher capital (gatekeeper households) did choose relocation, indicating a strategic response to mitigate their vulnerability. These findings outline policy options for mobilizing community resources to strengthen household resilience through the intervention of gatekeeper households so as to reduce vulnerabilities.

It is beyond dispute that socioenvironmental/ecological questions are a persisting major challenge for humankind and nature. What are the reasons that we are still on the wrong path? And why do so many not recognize and give the same weight to what matters to all humans with regard to nature? Looking at mainstream views and debates, this problem is rooted in perceptions that presuppose a radical (Cartesian) dichotomy in the relationship between humans and nature: “Here man, there nature.” They are permeated with “anthropocentrism” and “mechanical utilitarian” notions that are conducive to the exploitative subjugation of nature. In this article, we focus on the impacts of the “loss of relationality,” specific deployments of “rationality,” Spinoza's view on “Natura,” and the inescapability of dialectical ontology.

Since the publication of the article ‘Koalas, Climate, Conservation, and the Community: A Case Study of the Proposed Great Koala National Park, New South Wales, Australia’ in June 2023, the Government of New South Wales has continued to permit logging operations within the footprint of the proposed park on the state's Mid North Coast. Conflicts between forest industry advocates and the community epitomise tensions around the socioeconomic and sociocultural dimensions of society.