Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-10
Author(s):  
Takis S. Pappas
Keyword(s):  
Political Actors ◽  
Contemporary Politics ◽  
Meaningful Sense

Although “populism” has become the buzz word in almost any discussion about, or analysis of, contemporary politics, and was even announced as the Cambridge Dictionary 2017 Word of the Year, it is still, as one of its students has flatly put it, “far from obvious that we know what we are talking about. We simply do not have anything like a theory of populism, and we seem to lack coherent criteria for deciding when political actors turn populist in some meaningful sense” (...

scholarly journals Trust and authority in the age of mediatised politics

2022 ◽  
pp. 026732312110726
Author(s):  
Anu Koivunen ◽  
Johanna Vuorelma
Keyword(s):  
Political Institutions ◽  
Network Governance ◽  
Investigative Journalism ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
The Public ◽  
Contemporary Politics ◽  
Validity Claims ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Networked Publics

This article examines the role of trust in the age of mediatised politics. Authority, we suggest, can be successfully enacted despite the disrupted nature of the public sphere if both rational and moral trust are utilised to formulate validity claims. Drawing from Maarten A. Hajer's theorisation of authority in contemporary politics, we develop a model of how political actors and institutions as well as the media employ both rational and moral trust performances to generate authority. Analysing a Finnish case of controversial investigative journalism on defence intelligence, we show how the media in network governance need to critically evaluate the authority performances of political actors while at the same time enacting their own authority performances to retain their position within the governing network and to manufacture trust among networked publics. This volatile position can lead to situations where the media compete for authority with traditional political institutions.

scholarly journals Not just the facts: an index for measuring the information density of political communication

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauri Rapeli ◽  
Sakari Nieminen ◽  
Marko Mäkelä
Keyword(s):  
Political Communication ◽  
News Coverage ◽  
Academic Research ◽  
Research Problem ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Opinion Formation ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Information Density ◽  
Contemporary Politics ◽  
Fact Checking

AbstractMisinformation and biased opinion-formation plague contemporary politics. Fact-checking, the process of verifying accuracy of political claims, is now an expanding reseach area, but the methodology is underdeveloped. While the journalistic practice of fact-checking is by now well-established as an integral part of political news coverage, academic research requires more stringent methods than what journalists thus far have used. In order to advance the scientific study of fact-checking, we propose two variants of an index measuring the information density of verbal political communication. The main index combines three dimensions: (1) factual accuracy of political claims, (2) their relevance and (3) the magnitude of observed communication. In the article, we argue for the significance of each of these components. Depending on the research problem and data, the indices can be used for comparisons of political actors across different contexts such as countries or time points, or in non-comparative situations. Using examples, we demonstrate that the indices produce intuitive results.

scholarly journals Perspectives on Foreign Intervention in Contemporary Politics

2013 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 92-98
Author(s):  
Graeme Archibald ◽  
Carson Mayer ◽  
Dongwoo Kim ◽  
Neekoo Collet ◽  
Emerson Csorba ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Moral Obligation ◽  
Domestic Politics ◽  
The State ◽  
Moral Rights ◽  
International Affairs ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Contemporary Politics ◽  
Foreign Intervention ◽  
Simple Question ◽  
Global Affairs

The world of politics is a fast moving one; what is true one moment may not be true of the    next. Unfortunately, the full scholarly process is not always well suited to dissecting swiftly    moving issues, as good scholarship is based upon careful reflection and critical review—time consuming processes. However, sometimes it is necessary for scholars to provide advice on the go, as situations evolve and develop in real time. These judgments may lack the meticulously researched analysis that is possible when events are viewed in hindsight. However, these judgments are no less important, as they will often determine how political actors respond to changing events.   With the current state of global affairs, it is almost impossible not to address the variety of perspectives on the place and polices of foreign intervention. Such dialogues are contrasted between an understanding of the moral rights of the state. These two camps are contrasted in the following way. The first, arguing for intervention, believes that the state has a moral obligation to represent its idealized values in the global environment. As a result, intervention is required to promote and maintain these values. The second, arguing against intervention, believes that the state has a moral obligation to respect the sovereignty of foreign nations. Such positions are only made more complicated by the faith placed in institutions and other non-state actors to address such issues. However, the reality of global politics requires that states make decisive choices on such matter, and bear the consequences these choices can have on both international affairs and domestic politics. This is not merely a simple question of two perspectives, but rather, how these perspectives balance and effect actual policy.

1911: The Unanchored Chinese Revolution

2011 ◽  
Vol 208 ◽  
pp. 1009-1020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rana Mitter
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Historical Interpretation ◽  
Chinese Revolution ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
The Past ◽  
Contemporary Politics ◽  
The 1911 Revolution ◽  
Revolutionary History

AbstractOne hundred years after the 1911 Revolution (Xinhai Revolution) in China, its meaning continues to be highly contested. Paradoxically, the more time that passes, the less certain either political actors or scholars seem to be about the significance of 1911 for the path of Chinese revolutionary history. This essay examines three phenomena: the appropriation of 1911 in contemporary political and popular culture; the use of 1911 as a metaphor for contemporary politics by PRC historians; and the changing meaning of 1911 over the past ten decades, particularly during the years of the war against Japan. The essay concludes that it is precisely the “unanchored” nature of 1911, separated from any one path of historical interpretation, that has kept its meaning simultaneously uncertain and potent.

Old-Fashioned Racism, Contemporary Islamophobia, and the Isolation of Muslim Americans in the Age of Trump

2018 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 112-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nazita Lajevardi ◽  
Kassra A. R. Oskooii
Keyword(s):  
Mediation Analysis ◽  
Racial Attitudes ◽  
Muslim Americans ◽  
Muslim American ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Policy Positions ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Contemporary Politics ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Unique Dataset

AbstractWhile extant research has documented the existence of negative attitudes toward Muslim Americans, it is unclear whether old-fashioned racism (OFR) is at the root of contemporary Islamophobia, and whether beliefs in the inherent inferiority of Muslims are linked to support for political actors and policies that aim to further isolate them. Bringing to bear a unique dataset of 1,044 white, black, Latino, and Asian participants, we demonstrate that a nontrivial portion of survey respondents make blatantly racist evaluations and rate Muslim Americans as the least “evolved” group. Next, we illustrate that these dehumanizing attitudes are strongly linked to modern objections of Muslim Americans, which we measure with a new Muslim American resentment scale (MAR). Our mediation analysis reveals that the relationship between OFR, support for President Trump, and various policy positions is powerfully mediated by MAR. These results suggest that the relevance of OFR in contemporary politics should not easily be dismissed, and that the literature on racial attitudes, which has predominantly focused on the Black-white dichotomy, should also be extended to appraisals of Muslim Americans.

Embracing Complexity: Diaspora Politics as a Co-Construction

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-36
Author(s):  
Élise Féron
Keyword(s):  
Host Countries ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Diaspora Politics

Building on cases of conflict-generated diaspora groups, the article proposes to understand diaspora politics as a co-construction between a series of actors that is not limited to home and host states. It argues that repeated attempts to understand diaspora politics as mostly produced by home or host countries is the result of an unwillingness to embrace the fundamentally disruptive nature of diasporas in interstate politics. Diasporas are hybrid political actors that have connections, not only with their countries of origin and of residence, but also with other diaspora groups located in the same country or elsewhere as well as with other actors at the transnational level. Taking stock of state-based approaches to diaspora politics, as well as of analyses focusing on internal diaspora matters, the article shifts the focus towards the interstate and transnational dimensions of diaspora politics and emphasises their potential to move across levels and spheres of engagement

Migrant Diplomacies: Rethinking Diplomacy Beyond State-Centric Perspectives. A Civic Bi-Nationality Experience from North America

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonio Alejo
Keyword(s):  
North America ◽  
Mexico City ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Global Politics ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Interdisciplinary Dialogue ◽  
Contemporary Politics ◽  
Migrant Activism ◽  
Point Of Departure

There is a pressing need to extend our thinking about diplomacy beyond state-centric perspectives, as in the name of sovereignty and national interests, people on move are confronting virtual, symbolic and/or material walls and frames of policies inhibiting their free movement. My point of departure is to explore migrant activism and global politics through the transformation of diplomacy in a globalised world. Developing an interdisciplinary dialogue between new diplomacy and sociology, I evidence the emergence of global sociopolitical formations created through civic bi-nationality organisations. Focusing on the agent in interaction with structures, I present a theoretical framework and strategy for analysing the practices of migrant diplomacies as an expression of contemporary politics. A case study from North America regarding returned families in Mexico City provides evidence of how these alternative diplomacies are operating.

The Alevi Diaspora – Its emergence as a political actor and its impact on the homeland

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 342-353
Author(s):  
Zeynep Arslan
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Literature ◽  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Religious Identity ◽  
Historical Trauma ◽  
Religious Group ◽  
Political Agency ◽  
Political Actor ◽  
Literature Research ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Official Recognition

Through comparative literature research and qualitative analysis, this article considers the development of Alevi identity and political agency among the diaspora living in a European democratic context. This affects the Alevi emergence as political actors in Turkey, where they have no official recognition as a distinct religious identity. New questions regarding their identity and their aspiration to be seen as a political actor confront this ethno-religious group defined by common historical trauma, displacement, massacre, and finally emigration.

PENSAMENTO POLÍTICO EM GIORGIO AGAMBEN

Professare ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 109
Author(s):  
Claudemir Aparecido Lopes
Keyword(s):  
Political Freedom ◽  
State Of Exception ◽  
The Political ◽  
State Control ◽  
Giorgio Agamben ◽  
Modern Democracy ◽  
Social Fabric ◽  
Contemporary Politics ◽  
Political Implications ◽  
The Social

<p class="resumoabstract">O professor Giorgio Agamben tem elaborado críticas à engenhosa estrutura política ocidental moderna. Avalia os mecanismos de controle estatal, nos quais os denomina ‘dispositivos’, cuja força está na imbricação às normas jurídico-teológicas com seus similares ritos e liturgias. Suas ocorrências e legitimidade preponderam no tecido social cuja organização sistêmica se põe quase como elemento natural e não cultural. O texto tem por objetivo explorar a concepção política de Agamben sobre a política contemporânea, especialmente considerando seu livro: ‘Estado de Exceção’, cuja investigação apresenta a possibilidade de atenuação dos direitos de cidadania e o enfraquecimento da prática da liberdade política e o processo de relação dos indivíduos no meio social através da redução das subjetividades ‘autênticas’. Analisamos ainda a transferência do mundo sacro elaborado pelos teólogos católicos presente na modernidade à política cuja democracia moderna faz do homem (sujeito) tornar-se objeto do poder político. Faz também, reflexão dos conceitos de subjetivação e dessubjetivação relacionando-os às implicações políticas do homem moderno. A pesquisa é bibliográfica com ênfase na análise dos conceitos elaborados por Agamben, especialmente quanto ao ‘dispositivo’. Conclui que o indivíduo ocidental, de modo geral, sofre o processo de dessubjetivação e está ‘nu’, indefeso e alienado politicamente. Ele precisa voltar-se ao processo de ‘profanação’ dos dispositivos para libertar-se das vinculações orientadoras que forçosamente o descaracteriza enquanto ser ativo e livre.</p><p class="resumoabstract"><strong>Palavras-chave</strong>: Política. Liberdade. Subjetivação.</p><h3>ABSTRACT</h3><p class="resumoabstract">Professor Giorgio Agamben has been criticizing the ingenious modern Western political structure. It evaluates the mechanisms of state control, in which it calls them 'devices', whose strength lies in the overlap with legal-theological norms with their similar rites and liturgies. Its occurrences and legitimacy preponderate in the social fabric whose systemic organization is almost as a natural and not a cultural element. The text aims to explore Agamben's political conception of contemporary politics, especially considering his book 'State of Exception', whose research presents the possibility of attenuating citizenship rights and weakening the practice of political freedom and the individuals in the social environment through the reduction of 'authentic' subjectivities. We also analyze the transfer of the sacred world elaborated by the Catholic theologians present in the modernity to the politics whose modern democracy makes of the man - subject - to become object of the political power. It also reflects on the concepts of subjectivation and desubjectivation, relating them to the political implications of modern man. The research is bibliographical with emphasis in the analysis of the concepts elaborated by Agamben, especially with regard to the 'device'. He concludes that the Western individual, in general, suffers the process of desubjectivation and is 'naked', defenseless and politically alienated. He must turn to the process of 'desecration' of devices to free himself from the guiding bindings that forcibly demeanes him while being active and free.</p><p class="resumoabstract"><strong>Keywords</strong>: Politics. Freedom. Subjectivity. </p><p> </p>

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