The Liminal Microgenesis of the Cultural Cycle in the Sensemaking Process: A Dynamic Approach to the Study of Culture as Form (Morphogenesis) and Text (Textualization)

03 THE TRIAD IN CONCEPTUALIZATION OF IDENTITY: CONSTRUCTION, TRANSITION, AND IMAGINARIES

The triad in conceptualization of identity: construction, transition, and imaginaries

Identity constitutes a central concept for understanding the processes of subject formation and the transformations of contemporary societies. The aim of this study was to analyze the main theoretical perspectives that explain identity from a sociological approach, identifying the conceptual elements involved in its configuration and evolution. A theoretical documentary study was conducted based on the critical, comparative, and interpretative analysis of specialized scientific literature on identity, social representations, social imaginaries, biographical transitions, and individualization, incorporating contributions from both classical and contemporary sociology. The review identified a conceptual triad composed of construction, transition, and imaginaries as the key dimensions underlying identity, demonstrating that identity is shaped through continuous processes of socialization, interaction, recognition, and the production of shared meanings. Furthermore, the findings indicate that the transformations associated with modernization, globalization, and cultural change have fostered more dynamic, reflexive, and open forms of identification, moving beyond rigid or essentialist conceptions. The results also show that identity is closely linked to biographical trajectories, historical contexts, institutions, and social relationships that shape individual experiences. It is concluded that identity should be understood as a relational, dynamic, and multidimensional process, constructed through the ongoing interaction between social structures, personal experiences, and shared symbolic frameworks. This perspective overcomes deterministic approaches and provides a broader interpretative framework for analyzing identity transformations in contexts characterized by diversity, social mobility, and the continuous changes of contemporary societies.

Nature as a Palimpsest – Conceptual Histories Across Cultures

This article conceptualizes nature as a dynamic and multilayered construct, whose meanings emerge through continuous processes of accumulation, transformation, and cross-cultural interaction. Rather than replacing earlier meanings, new interpretations of nature are added to pre-existing ones, resulting in a palimpsestic structure in which different semantic layers coexist. Drawing on a comparative framework, the study traces the historical evolution of the concept across Western and Chinese traditions, emphasizing both internal developments and intercultural exchanges. In the European context, nature has its roots in Ancient Greece, when it was defined as a dynamic process. Its understanding has constantly changed, being shaped by theological, scientific, and industrial paradigms, becoming a term defined by its opposition to culture. In parallel, the Chinese conceptual field – articulated through paradigms of thought such as Confucianism, Daoism, and Buddhism – develops a relational understanding of the world, in which humans are embedded within a continuous process of transformation. The encounter with Western modernity in the early twentieth century introduces new semantic layers into the Chinese conceptualization of nature, while contemporary ecological thought echoes Chinese concepts such as 自然 (ziran – nature as a self-generating process). Methodologically, the article combines conceptual history and comparative analysis, within the interdisciplinary field of Environmental Humanities, paying particular attention to the interplay between linguistic, philosophical, and cultural dimensions. By foregrounding the stratified nature of the concept, the study argues that nature cannot be understood as a stable category, but rather as an open, evolving construct shaped by ongoing processes of reinterpretation and intercultural negotiation.

The adaptability of intertextuality theory to architectural interpretations: A conceptual analysis between representation, memory and narrative forms

Architecture, as a structural field, can be regarded as a text in which cultural representation, collective memory, and narrative construction are layered, in this context, the theory of intertextuality offers a theoretical foundation for analyzing the multifaceted processes of meaning production within the field. This study aims to discuss how architectural productions are rewritten and interpreted in the dimensions of representation, narrative and memory by addressing the concept of intertextuality in the context of architecture. In this approach, in which architecture is conceptualized as a readable text, four spatial typologies are identified: Residential building, arts and culture building, public building/ space and urban scale. The analysis process, structured through the discursive breaking points of modern, postmodern and contemporary periods, is based on content analysis and case study methods. The selected buildings are evaluated in line with conceptual references, discursive strategies and narrative planes; contextual continuity, spatial organization and forms of representation are analyzed through visual documents. The theoretical framework is structured around the basic concepts of intertextuality such as rewriting, referentiality, trace, parody and multiple meaning production; this theory is supported by readings based on poststructuralist plurality, structuralist sequential analysis and phenomenological experience. By integrating the theory of intertextuality with spatial analyses, the study offers a contribution to the development of theoretical discussions and the elimination of methodological gaps in the architectural literature through sample analyses. Cite

Extinction as Crisis: design between technocratic modernity and the regeneration of situated knowledges

This article proposes a theoretical reflection on the crisis of extinction as a multidimensional process that transcends the disappearance of biological species, manifesting also in the sociocultural sphere through the erosion of knowledges, artisanal practices, and situated ways of life. The objective is to understand the ambivalent role of design, historically aligned with capitalist and technocratic logic that accelerates these extinction processes, but also potentially capable of acting as an agent of regeneration when adopting participatory and situated approaches. Based on a non-systematic literature review, the article articulates discussions on the concept of extinction, the critique of modernity, the Anthropocene, and situated knowledges, proposing an original reading that connects these debates to the field of design. It is argued that although the extinction of certain practices seems inexorable in the face of hegemonic global forces, participatory and regenerative design strategies can open pathways for the re-signification and strengthening of threatened cultures. The conclusion points to the need for design to abandon its technocratic and centralizing posture, repositioning itself as a mediator of intercultural dialogues and co-creator of possible futures anchored in local knowledges. 

Digital Technofeudalism as a Macrosocial Structure: Between Singularity and Serfdom

The article provides a comprehensive socio-philosophical analysis of the macrostructural transition from clas-sical platform capitalism to digital technofeudalism and proposes a three-level positive program of algorithmic resistance based on the practices of deliberate “de-immunization”, counter-functioning, and the preservation of “cognitive anomaly”.