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Purpose- In the present study, the impact of the household head's features on poverty and its intensity in rural households was investigated using the data related to income cost of rural households of West Azerbaijan during 2014. Design/methodology/approach- To this end, the relative poverty line of the rural households was first estimated in this study. Then, the effect of household characteristics on the intensity of poverty and its incidence was examined as well. The two-step Heckman model was used in this regard through which the impact of variables on household poverty was explored and the likelihood of household poverty was calculated. Afterward, assessing the poverty intensity of poor households, the effect of the study variables on the intensity of poverty of these households was investigated. Findings- The results of the study showed that the age, marital status, employment, and literacy level of the household head had a significantly positive effect on decreasing the incidence of poverty of the households. In addition, being married, the higher level of education, and employment of the household head, and also increasing the number of employed members in the household alleviated the severity of poverty among rural households. Research limitations/implications- The main limitation of this study was the lack of direct access to statistics and that extraction of data from micro- households was time-consuming. Practical implications- Considering the high probability of poverty at the beginning of the young age and retirement, actions must be taken to minimize the negative consequences of poverty in these ages through appropriate social security systems. Furthermore, given that being married reduces the incidence of poverty, careful planning is required to increase employment opportunities, to develop the culture of marriage, and therefore, to reduce the level of divorce in the society. Originality/value- In this article, an attempt has been made to study the influence of individual characteristics of the household head on poverty incidence and its severity in rural households of West Azerbaijan Province using the relative poverty line system. Moreover, based on the aim of the study, the severity of poverty and its incidence are to be separately investigated.

Looking back at the early 1970s socio-cultural upheavals, Thomas Pynchon’s Inherent Vice (2009) generates a discursive construct of Los Angeles that captures the transition from a Fordist culture to a Post-Fordist one. This essay holds that around this watershed moment, literary heterotopias specific to Southern California are being made. Michel Foucault defines heterotopias as realized utopias, emplacements that simultaneously represent, contest, and invert the normal space. This study reads Inherent Vice , using Foucault’s archaeological method of analysis to develop literary heterotopology. A discursive analysis of Pynchon’s novel reveals heterotopias’ discontinuous nature, which this study proposes as the seventh principle for heterotopology. Furthermore, Pynchon uses a new vehicle, Decompression Heterotopias, to reshape globalization in his retro-production of Los Angeles. Ultimately, the essay shows how the Fordist and Post-Fordist waves of globalization aspire to affect Angeleno’s lives by compressing the time-space spectrum. Pynchon’s decompression heterotopias, however, resist the status quo and propose reconfiguring globalization’s compression forces.

Recent years have witnessed a surge in research on the impact of the cyberspace on social movements. The feminist movement has built a vocal platform online which attempts to underscore sexual violence against women. Scholars have begun to suspect that the internet has ushered in a new wave, the fourth wave of feminism. The fourth wave’s main feature is its reliance on social media. The accessibility, reach of a widespread audience, low costs and user-friendly environment have encouraged women to use social media to speak out against various forms of sexual violence directed against women. It is also assumed that going forward; the movement will also tackle issues such as the gender pay gap, neoliberal policies, maternity leave, and cultural sexism. Moreover, the internet-based movement is striving to bring to the fore the topic of intersectionality, that is, the intersection of oppressive institutions, and the attempt to rectify the failings of past waves by representing those oppressed by multiple institutions such as sexism, classism, and racism. This commentary provides an overview of the emerging academic literature on the fourth wave of feminism and critically reflects the lack of social realism in its existing form of knowledge production.