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Research Article
Ethnic Festival Ritual Performance and Border Tourism Destination Image Shaping: A Case Study of the Jingpo People's Mu Nao Zong Ge in Dehong, Yunnan
Renjuan Luo,
Ruoping Yang*,
Fen Lu
Issue:
Volume 15, Issue 5, October 2026
Pages:
257-264
Received:
31 July 2026
Accepted:
25 August 2026
Published:
4 September 2026
Abstract: Ethnic festivals serve as core cultural tourism resources in border areas, and their ritual performances play a unique role in shaping tourism destination images. Taking the Mu Nao Zong Ge of the Jingpo people in Dehong, Yunnan as a case study, this paper constructs a three-dimensional analytical framework of "ritual performance—cultural experience—image perception" and employs participant observation to examine the mechanisms through which Mu Nao Zong Ge's ritual performance shapes the border tourism destination image. The findings reveal four key mechanisms: first, spatial liminalization constructs a ritual field where everyday space is transformed into a space where the sacred and the secular interweave, offering tourists a border spatial experience distinct from inland areas; second, symbolic performance of bodily practices, through dancers' movements and ethnic costumes, constitutes a visual symbol system that strengthens tourists' intuitive perception of Jingpo culture; third, narrative reconstruction of collective memory, through epic chanting and ritual procedures, activates the ethnic group's historical memory, creating a dual intensification of cultural identity and image identity; and fourth, digital dissemination through social media and short-video platforms breaks through geographic boundaries, enabling cross-regional diffusion of the border tourism destination image. These four mechanisms work synergistically to transform Mu Nao Zong Ge from a traditional ethnic ritual into an iconic cultural symbol of the Dehong border tourism destination. This study provides a new theoretical perspective for understanding the relationship between ethnic festivals and border tourism destination images, and offers practical insights for the integrated development of culture and tourism in border ethnic areas.
Abstract: Ethnic festivals serve as core cultural tourism resources in border areas, and their ritual performances play a unique role in shaping tourism destination images. Taking the Mu Nao Zong Ge of the Jingpo people in Dehong, Yunnan as a case study, this paper constructs a three-dimensional analytical framework of "ritual performance—cultural experience...
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Research Article
Research on Cross-border Commercial Social Governance of Ethnic Minorities on Sino-Vietnamese Border from Anthropological Perspective
Doan Ba Toai*
,
Trieu Thi My An
Issue:
Volume 15, Issue 5, October 2026
Pages:
265-276
Received:
15 July 2026
Accepted:
1 September 2026
Published:
14 September 2026
Abstract: The Sino-Vietnamese borderlands represent a unique cross-border ethnic enclave characterized by frequent grassroots commercial exchanges, culturally embedded ethnic livelihood traditions, and overlapping governance logics of state formal regulation and indigenous customary norms. Cross-border commercial activities conducted by ethnic minority groups are not merely economic transactional behaviors but comprehensive socio-cultural practices deeply embedded in cross-border communal relations, constructing a distinctive grassroots governance scenario fundamentally different from inland market-oriented commercial governance. Adopting core theoretical lenses from cultural and economic anthropology—including embeddedness theory, communal social network theory, and grassroots practice theory—this study focuses on cross-border commercial governance practices of the Zhuang, Yao, and Miao ethnic communities in the Yunnan-Guangxi Sino-Vietnamese border regions. Based on 10-year longitudinal community panel data (2015–2024), multi-site ethnographic fieldwork, and in-depth semi-structured interview datasets, this paper establishes an integrated theoretical framework of “institutional embeddedness-cultural adaptation-social order reconstruction”. It systematically unpacks the dual governance mechanism of formal state border supervision and informal ethnic customary institutions, and identifies core governance dilemmas including institutional friction, cross-cultural dissonance, and governance fragmentation. Combining qualitative grounded theory analysis and quantitative Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) verification, this study empirically examines the causal effects of ethnic cultural capital, cross-border social networks, and institutional coordination on cross-border commercial governance efficiency. The results indicate that indigenous governance resources (kinship trust, folk credit norms, and traditional trade ethics) serve as the implicit institutional foundation for grassroots cross-border commerce, effectively compensating for the rigidity and adaptability defects of formal state supervision. Nevertheless, cross-border factor mobility, Sino-Vietnamese cultural heterogeneity, and asymmetric border regulatory systems trigger persistent conflicts between formal and informal governance regimes, hindering the standardized and sustainable development of cross-border commercial economies. Heterogeneity analysis further confirms that community-based ethnic elite governance exhibits higher efficiency in small-scale informal folk trade, while formal institutional governance dominates the regulation of large-scale standardized cross-border transactions. This study theoretically innovates by integrating anthropological embeddedness perspectives into border commercial governance research, breaking the single institutional-centric paradigm of existing border governance literature and enriching the interdisciplinary theoretical system of ethnic cross-border social governance. Practically, it proposes targeted optimization strategies of cultural empowerment, institutional synergy, and multi-stakeholder co-governance, providing empirical evidence and policy implications for inclusive, standardized, and stable governance of Sino-Vietnamese ethnic border economies and border social security maintenance.
Abstract: The Sino-Vietnamese borderlands represent a unique cross-border ethnic enclave characterized by frequent grassroots commercial exchanges, culturally embedded ethnic livelihood traditions, and overlapping governance logics of state formal regulation and indigenous customary norms. Cross-border commercial activities conducted by ethnic minority group...
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Research Article
AI Literacy Among Vietnamese University Students: Current Status and Influencing Factors
Issue:
Volume 15, Issue 5, October 2026
Pages:
277-284
Received:
15 July 2026
Accepted:
1 September 2026
Published:
14 September 2026
Abstract: Driven by global artificial intelligence (AI) penetration and national digital transformation strategies, AI literacy has become a fundamental competency for university students to adapt to intelligent societal and industrial development. While existing literature has extensively explored student AI literacy in Western and developed Asian contexts, empirical evidence focusing on Vietnamese higher education remains limited and fragmented. This cross-sectional quantitative study aims to examine the current status of AI literacy among Vietnamese university students and identify its hierarchical influencing factors using multiple linear regression (MLR) and hierarchical regression analysis. Based on a valid sample of 428 undergraduate students from six representative universities across Northern, Central, and Southern Vietnam, this study adopts a five-dimensional AI literacy framework encompassing AI basic cognition, technical application ability, critical thinking, ethical awareness, and innovative application competence. Descriptive statistical results indicate that Vietnamese university students demonstrate a moderate overall level of AI literacy, with prominent deficiencies in AI ethical awareness and innovative application capabilities. Correlation analysis verifies significant positive associations between demographic characteristics, campus AI learning environment, individual AI learning experience, perceived AI value, and student AI literacy. Hierarchical regression results reveal that campus environmental factors contribute the strongest incremental explanatory variance to AI literacy (ΔR2 = 0.187), followed by individual psychological factors (ΔR2 = 0.117), after controlling for demographic variables. Gender and major type serve as stable demographic predictors, whereas grade level exerts no significant influence. This study fills the regional research gap in AI literacy research within Southeast Asian emerging economies, provides empirical evidence for optimizing AI education systems in Vietnamese universities, and offers practical implications for improving student intelligent literacy in digital transformation contexts.
Abstract: Driven by global artificial intelligence (AI) penetration and national digital transformation strategies, AI literacy has become a fundamental competency for university students to adapt to intelligent societal and industrial development. While existing literature has extensively explored student AI literacy in Western and developed Asian contexts,...
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Research Article
The Antagonism of the “Bank Customer” Constructs: A Sociological Etude
Radij Nazibovich Ibragimov*,
Svetlana Vasilyevna Trusova,
Isai Mikhailovich Abramov
Issue:
Volume 15, Issue 5, October 2026
Pages:
285-289
Received:
25 August 2026
Accepted:
8 September 2026
Published:
20 September 2026
Abstract: This article examines how images of financial clients are constructed in two contrasting organizational settings: the Israeli commercial bank Bank Hapoalim and the Russian financial pyramid MMM. Its aim is to compare the institutional representation of a responsible bank client with interpretations of the risk-taking participant in a financial pyramid. The study takes the form of a qualitative sociological etude based on comparative documentary analysis and the interpretation of cultural representations. The materials comprise corporate environmental, social, and governance reporting, published sociological research, retrospective survey evidence, regulatory guidance, press accounts, and the film PyraMMMid. These sources are distinguished by their evidential role: corporate reports express institutional self-presentation, published observations concern participant behavior, and the film provides an artistic representation rather than direct historical evidence. The analysis suggests that Bank Hapoalim presents an ideal client through the language of trust, social responsibility, and sustainable development. In the MMM case, the literature complicates an exclusively naive-victim interpretation by identifying participants whose awareness of risk coexisted with speculative expectations and collective pressures. The comparison is interpreted through constructivist and objectivist perspectives, understood as analytical emphases rather than mutually exclusive properties of the organizations. The main conclusion is that client portraits depend on institutional narratives, social conditions, and the researcher's choice of evidence. Because the cases differ in historical context and source composition, the findings are exploratory and do not establish representative psychological profiles of either client population. The study highlights the importance of separating institutional ideals from observed behavior when assessing trust and responsibility in financial relationships.
Abstract: This article examines how images of financial clients are constructed in two contrasting organizational settings: the Israeli commercial bank Bank Hapoalim and the Russian financial pyramid MMM. Its aim is to compare the institutional representation of a responsible bank client with interpretations of the risk-taking participant in a financial pyra...
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Research Article
Age as a Moderator and Socioeconomic Correlates of Cash Transfers-linked Empowerment Among Pastoralist Women: Evidence from Turkana Central Sub-County, Kenya
Stephen Kimotho*,
Peter Koome,
Wanjugu Wachira
Issue:
Volume 15, Issue 5, October 2026
Pages:
290-300
Received:
30 August 2026
Accepted:
10 September 2026
Published:
28 September 2026
Abstract: Cash transfers programmes are frequently used to improve the socioeconomic status of vulnerable women, yet there is still little data on whether the beneficiaries' own socioeconomic characteristics influence these outcomes, especially in populations of nomadic pastoralists. In Turkana Central Sub-County, Kenya, this study investigated how age moderates the relationship between Hunger Safety Net Programme (HSNP) cash transfers and three measures of pastoralist women's socioeconomic empowerment: savings, household decision-making, and meal frequency with education and marital status as direct predictors. Based on Kabeer empowerment theory, the study used an explanatory sequential mixed-methods design and a pragmatic mindset. It included two focus groups, three key informant interviews, and a structured survey of 342 HSNP beneficiaries. While qualitative data were studied thematically to contextualise statistical findings, quantitative data were analysed descriptively using chi-square and ordinary least squares regression with interaction terms connecting programme design features to beneficiary age. The findings demonstrated that rather than moderating empowerment effects equally, socioeconomic characteristics did so selectively. Savings were significantly associated with education and marital status, with married beneficiaries and those with only a primary education reporting the greatest percentages. The associations of payment frequency and payment modality on savings were strongly moderated by age; older beneficiaries gained disproportionately from more frequent and accessible payment modalities, partially offsetting an otherwise negative direct effect of age on saves. Although there was no statistically significant moderation, household decision-making was consistently high (above 96%) across age, education, and marital categories; yet qualitative reports indicated underlying contestation over control of transfers within married and polygamous households. Food security among older beneficiaries necessitates measures beyond payment logistics, as evidenced by the considerable drop in meal frequency with age that was not significantly regulated by payment mechanism. These results suggest that significant subgroups of pastoralist women may experience differential outcomes under a uniformly planned cash transfers with socioeconomic characteristics acting as indicator-specific rather than general mediators of empowerment. Based on the associations identified, the findings suggest several programme implications: first, age-targeted nutritional support to address the age-related decline in meal frequency observed among. Second, complementary social-norms interventions to address contested household bargaining power and finally, targeted financial literacy support for beneficiaries with no or only secondary education and differentiated payment scheduling and delivery methods for older beneficiaries. The results provide a methodological guide for designing cash transfers programmes that are gender-responsive in various pastoral contexts.
Abstract: Cash transfers programmes are frequently used to improve the socioeconomic status of vulnerable women, yet there is still little data on whether the beneficiaries' own socioeconomic characteristics influence these outcomes, especially in populations of nomadic pastoralists. In Turkana Central Sub-County, Kenya, this study investigated how age moder...
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