Language of Persuasion: Analysis of Conceptual Metaphors in Political Discourse

The aim of this article is to study the scope of conceptual metaphors as a persuasive tool inherent to political discourse in English. In particular, it dwells upon the use of four conceptual metaphors such as NATION IS A FAMILY, STATE IS A BODY, POLITICS IS A WAR, and POLITICS IS A GAME. For this purpose, the transcripts of twenty-eight public speeches delivered by David Cameron, Hillary Clinton, Theresa May, and Donald Trump were analysed. The results revealed numerous functions of these metaphors in the process of persuasion. Apart from that, the analysis showed that the majority of the analysed politicians resort to the source domain of WAR to conceptualise their political activities, while the source domain of GAME is the least frequently used.

Families, States, and Markets

The primary objective in this chapter is to understand family as an object of state policy on the one hand, and market functioning on the other, in a range of countries today. This is accomplished through an analysis of the expansion and reform of family-related policies over the past ten years and a consideration of how these are to be explained, especially in light of the classical approaches to the family. The empirical line of analysis is to identify emerging policy approaches to the interrelations between family, state, and market, in their own right as they evolve in particular countries and in light of a seeming consensus on the part of the European Union (EU) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) about the appropriate focus and organization of family and work life today.The chapter proceeds in four steps. The first introduces the field, outlining the main features of family policy as it has developed over time and the insights of scholarship. Following this, the piece moves on to consider the main contours of current reform, especially in light of the model(s) of family policy being promoted by the EU and the OECD. The third section considers explanatory factors and the utility of the main approaches to understanding family policy. A conclusion brings the piece to a close.

Intergenerational persistence of family formation trajectories among teenage-mothers and -fathers in Sweden

In this paper, we address the questions of whether early family trajectories of parents are reflected in childbearing teenagers, and how socio-economic and family background factors impact these intergenerational correlations. We use within-dyad sequence analysis to examine combined marital and childbearing trajectories, up to age 30, of two generations of a representative sample of childbearing teenagers born between 1975 and 1985 and their progenitors, drawn from the Swedish population register data. We find evidence for within-family persistence of early family trajectories, with better matches across family state sequences for dyads composed of childbearing teenagers and their parents, than for dyads composed of childbearing teenagers and parents of random birth cohort peers. Regression analysis shows that these intergenerational associations are stronger and occur among later-born siblings from non-traditional family backgrounds, and among families with lower socio-economic backgrounds. This study fills gaps in the knowledge of intergenerational family life course dynamics beyond the early parenthood event.

Democracy & Demography: Intersectional Issues in Politics

Democracy and Demography: Intersectional dimensions of political conflictsAbstractFeminist theory revealed liberal democracy as gendered masculine in an intersectional way that privileges racial-ethnic and economic power, enforces heteronormativity, and constructs gender-binary citizenship. Merely reformed to accommodate women, brotherhood-breadwinner democracies now face deeper challenges. The second demographic transition undermines the hegemonic quality of binary gender relations, and organizes political conflict on an axis of reproductive politics. Germany’s Green and AfD parties exemplify opposite ends of this axis. Intersectional clusters of issues now reflect ideals that de-masculinize democracy, while reactionary populism re-politicizes masculinity to defend the family-state relations of the breadwinner-brotherhood gender system.

Creating a family state of mind: using psychoanalytic ideas to treat families where children resist or refuse contact with a parent

Separated families, where children resist or refuse visitation with one parent, present a complex treatment picture for clinicians. Application of psychoanalytic concepts can increase the clinician's understanding of the family members' response to the familial separation and inform the clinician's treatment decisions. The concepts of couple state of mind, projective gridlock, transgenerational transmission of trauma, and Nachträglichkeit, or après coup, are proposed as useful in appreciating the family members' individual and familial psychological responses to the trauma of parental separation. Multiple clinician functions necessary in the treatment of this complex family dynamic are explicated. A case example is included. Family state of mind is proposed as a newly named function for the clinician as well as the family members.

State family policy in France and Russia

State family policy and its important direction, which is the improvement of the living conditions of orphans and children left without parental care, require constant updating due to socio-economic and political circumstances. Changes should concern both the state level and the level of specific regions. The improvement of the forms and methods of relations between the state, family and children in a particular country is possible with the consideration of the advanced achievements and miscalculations of other states in this policy. Therefore, it is highly important for the theory and practice of the development of Russian family state and regional policy to study the experience of France. The study made it possible to draw conclusions about the specifics of state policy in the formation of family and childhood in France. In this period, family policy in France has gone from exclusion from the family by the school to a discourse of cooperation. Particular attention is paid to the French School Orientation and Reform Act of June 8, 2013, of particular interest. It recognizes the importance of establishing partnerships between the school and the family and proposes measures of cooperation between school and family, some of which are interesting for contemporary Russian reality. The article shows the advantage of modern Russian family state policy by characterizing its goals, principles and objectives defined in the main regulatory documents of the last decade. The materials of the article are of practical value for legislators and heads of social services of different levels, specialists of educational authorities, social protection, guardianship and trusteeship. The article is of interest to teachers and students of pedagogical universities.

STATUS AND TRENDS OF THE DEMOGRAPHIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE BULGARIAN POPULATION

From a demographic point of view, the birth rate decline in Bulgaria is due to the reducedfertility of women of childbearing (fertile) age and the decrease in number thereof. Reconsidering therole of education as a social investment in family, state and society, without which cannot be achievedneither economic nor social prosperity, is of key importance to improve the quality of human capital.Itis expected to have a long-term incentive effect on birth rateand responsible parenting.