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The nonmaterial dimension of reality is contrasted with the material, observable and empirically verifiable dimension that rose to dominance with the Enlightenment. The nonmaterial dimension includes orientation, memes, tacit knowledge and spirituality. The orientation of an individual, group, or institution can be towards violence – getting ahead at the expense of the other – or blessing – working in such a way that there is mutual benefit. Orientations can be expressed through memes, cultural or behavioural patterns that are mimetically transmitted broadly within a society and diachronically through generations. If they catch on within a group, they can determine the institutional or group culture. Spirituality can be a source of change of orientation from violence to blessing and of growth in creativity, resilience and empowerment. David Peat and David Bohm posit an implicate order in the universe, thought as a system (in the context of dialogue), and gentle action. Neil Douglas-Klotz points out that the Aramaic words malkuta d'bwashmaya (kingdom of heaven) used by Jesus constituted a nonmaterial reality containing vision, norms and empowerment that exists within and among us – like the implicate order – and is accessed by those who truly wish to ‘see’ it. The emerging spirituality coming out of this engagement has a capacity to replace memes like those of empire, self-interest and grandiose leaders with memes that channel passions and energy towards bio-interest, transnational interest, transpersonal interest, empathy and widespread empowerment. And this could make all the difference in effecting truly sustainable development.

This chapter explores the complex intersection between students with disabilities and bullying prevention within educational settings. While bullying impacts all students, those with disabilities face unique challenges that make them more vulnerable to such experiences (Rose & Gage, 2016; Rose et al., 2011). By examining the underlying factors contributing to the heightened risk of bullying among students with disabilities, this chapter aims to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the issue. It delves into the specific ways in which students with disabilities are targeted and engage in bullying behaviors, such as through verbal, relational, or physical, and highlights the negative consequences on their overall well-being and academic performance. Moreover, this chapter examines existing interventions and strategies employed to prevent bullying among students with disabilities. It critically evaluates the effectiveness of individual, classroom, and school-wide interventions, highlighting the need for a comprehensive approach that addresses the unique needs and challenges faced by this subset of students. The importance of collaboration between educators, parents, and other stakeholders in implementing evidence-based practices is also emphasized. By promoting awareness, fostering inclusive school environments, and implementing targeted interventions, we can strive toward creating a safe and supportive atmosphere that enables students with disabilities to thrive academically and socially, free from bullying involvement.

This chapter will examine two questions. First, how can art and cultural heritage contribute to the health and well-being of a place within the context of the tourism industry? More specifically, can cultural tourism be a driver for community sustainability, that is, not only environmental sustainability but also social empowerment, cultural preservation, and economic vitality? To explore these questions, the author begins by establishing the ways art and environment are closely intertwined, while pondering how cultural production generally – along with the cultural tourists it attracts – can be a driver for sustainability in tourism settings. The benefits that the arts draw from the environment as well as the ways the environment benefits from the arts will be examined. In the next section, the author unpacks how cultural tourism, and more specifically art production, can be drivers for environmental sustainability through social and eco-entrepreneurship and the creation of a shared social value. In the third section, the author identifies some of the challenges inherent in government regulation and preservation of cultural heritage sites. The author argues that communication, cooperation, and relationship building, not just between governing bodies and private stakeholders, but with residents and tourists, should be prioritized in destination management and marketing strategies. In the end, the author proposes that this type of strategy is vital in order to move toward greater cultural, environmental, social, economic, and other kinds of sustainability in the tourism industry.

While there is some evidence of bias against curly hair, this chapter provides a more comprehensive analysis by examining comments made by women about their hair experience, how it affects their identity, their experiences in the workplace and the challenges it presents to them in their decision to straighten their hair or leave it naturally curly. Utilising a qualitative inductive approach, we identify themes in the comments that could be tied to relevant theories and provide a framework for future research. This chapter also includes an empirical examination of individual beliefs regarding the impact of female hair texture (curly vs. straight hair) on others' perceptions of her and her workplace outcomes. Responses from 235 participants show that straight-haired women were rated significantly higher than curly haired women on job characteristics that are important to professional positions. Thus, a bias against curly haired women appears to exist in the workplace.

Since the development of the COVID-19 vaccinations, questions surrounding race have been prominent in the literature on vaccine uptake. Early in the vaccine rollout, public health officials were concerned with the relatively lower rates of uptake among certain racial/ethnic minority groups. We suggest that this may also be patterned by racial/ethnic residential segregation, which previous work has demonstrated to be an important factor for both health and access to health care.

In this study, we examine county-level vaccination rates, racial/ethnic composition, and residential segregation across the U.S. We compile data from several sources, including the American Community Survey (ACS) and Centers for Disease Control (CDC) measured at the county level.

We find that just looking at the associations between racial/ethnic composition and vaccination rates, both percent Black and percent White are significant and negative, meaning that higher percentages of these groups in a county are associated with lower vaccination rates, whereas the opposite is the case for percent Latino. When we factor in segregation, as measured by the index of dissimilarity, the patterns change somewhat. Dissimilarity itself was not significant in the models across all groups, but when interacted with race/ethnic composition, it moderates the association. For both percent Black and percent White, the interaction with the Black-White dissimilarity index is significant and negative, meaning that it deepens the negative association between composition and the vaccination rate.

The analysis is only limited to county-level measures of racial/ethnic composition and vaccination rates, so we are unable to see at the individual-level who is getting vaccinated.

We find that segregation moderates the association between racial/ethnic composition and vaccination rates, suggesting that local race relations in a county helps contextualize the compositional effects of race/ethnicity.

Limited research investigates the travel behavior of the retired adult population before retirement and how it changes after retirement. Currently, most of the travel research on the retired population explores their current travel patterns in retirement. Increased research on travel activity before retirement would allow managers in the tourism industry to better adapt and anticipate the changing needs and demographics of seniors, notably, the various ways this growing population manages travel and specific barriers or concerns they face. The authors examined the changes to the travel patterns – defined as travel frequency, mode of transportation, and geographic location/s (domestic or international) – of those retired traveling before and after retirement. Since retirement is a time of major life change, the authors analyzed how this event impacts travel behavior. This research identified barriers these Baby Boomers and those who are retired experience while traveling, including health, social activities, and financial status, which may impact their travel, the degree to which their travel behavior is affected, and specific environmental and personal factors impacting their travel patterns. This chapter will explore the barriers and motivations to travel for the retired population. Results show that before retirement seniors had less time to travel, obligations at home, and were not interested in as many destinations. After retirement, health barriers negatively impacted an individual’s travel frequency and they were also more concerned about safety while traveling and accessibility to the destinations. After retirement, financial barriers impacted an individual’s domestic travel frequency, with those having lower incomes traveling less. Accessibility to the destination facility and transportation options were major barriers to traveling internationally. Before and after retirement, there was a decrease of 10 percent in international travel.

In the years following the publication of A Theory of Consumption (1923), Hazel Kyrk’s book became the flagship of the field that would later be known as the economics of consumption. It stimulated theoretical and empirical work on consumption. Some of the existing literature on Kyrk (e.g., Kiss & Beller, 2000; Le Tollec, 2020; Tadajewski, 2013) depicted her theory as the starting point of the economics of consumption. Nevertheless, how and why it emerged the way it did remain largely unexplored. This chapter examines Kyrk’s intellectual background, which, we argue, can be traced back to two main movements in the United States: the home economics and the institutionalist. Both movements conveyed specific endeavors as responses to the US material and social transformations that occurred at the turn of the 20th century, notably the perceived changing role of consumption and that of women in US society. On the one hand, Kyrk pursued first-generation home economists’ efforts to make sense of and put into action the shifting of women’s role from domestic producer to consumer. On the other hand, she reinterpreted Veblen’s (1899) account of consumption in order to reveal its operational value for a normative agenda focused on “wise” and “rational” consumption. This chapter studies how Kyrk carried on first-generation home economists’ progressive agenda and how she adapted Veblen’s fin-de-siècle critical account of consumption to the context of the household goods developed in 1900–1920. Our account of Kyrk’s intellectual roots offers a novel narrative to better understand the role of gender and epistemological questions in her theory.