Transnational halal networks: INHART and the Islamic cultural economy in Malaysia and beyond

The concern for piety among contemporary middle-class Muslims has led to efforts to establish a halal (permissible according to Islamic principles) economy. This can be seen in the thriving Islamic cultural economy in Malaysia, which refers to the links between Islamic culture and economic practices. Malaysia tops the Global Islamic Economy indicator, which serves as the dominant framework for evaluating and measuring the global halal economy. This was achieved through various initiatives, such as establishing research centres, of which the International Institute for Halal Research and Training (INHART) is among the most prominent. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork and digital ethnography, this article focuses on INHART initiatives for building transnational halal networks. This article aims to explore how halal interpretations and practices travel across borders. I argue that halal research centres, such as INHART, signify both the decentring and centring of power transnationally and economically in terms of the global flow of halal knowledge and practices.     

Linking video chatting,phone calling,text messaging,and social media with peers to adolescent connectedness

For 14 days three times per day (6072 observations), adolescents (N = 207, M_age = 15.45 years) reported their digital (i.e., video chatting, texting, social media, and phone calling) communication with peers and their social connectedness. Controlling for in-person interactions, adolescents felt more connected in hours when they had communicated with peers by video chatting, texting, or social media, but not phone calling. Girls communicated with peers via text and social media more than boys, and boys talked on the phone more than girls. Boys who talked, texted, or video chatted more on average reported higher connectedness on average, whereas girls did not. As the links with connectedness were only found at the hourly- and not the daily level, results highlight that a sense of connectedness from digital media may be fleeting in nature.     

Religiosity,sexual behaviors,sexual motivations,and gender: A three-year longitudinal study

Longitudinal data are critical for examining associations of religiosity with sexual behaviors and motivations during college. We use hierarchical linear modeling on five semesters of data from a diverse sample of college students (N = 735) to examine within- and between-person associations between religious service attendance and importance of religion and sexual behaviors and motivations for and against sex and consider gender as a moderator. Between-person religiosity was associated with sexual behaviors and motivations whereas within-person religiosity was not. Students' sexual motivations co-varied across semesters with their religious service attendance and importance of religion. Our results indicated more restrictive associations between religiosity and sexual motivations for women than for men.