scholarly journals From Scientific Communism to Political Science: The Development of the Profession in Selected Former Soviet European States

2021 ◽  
pp. 51-85
Author(s):  
Tatsiana Chulitskaya ◽  
Irmina Matonyte ◽  
Dangis Gudelis ◽  
Serghei Sprincean
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Academic Freedom ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Academic Discipline ◽  
Political Environment ◽  
Important Research ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Conflicts ◽  
The Public Sphere

AbstractThe chapter explores the trajectories of the evolution of political science (PS) in four former Soviet Socialist Republics (Estonia and Lithuania, the Republics of Moldova and Belarus) after the USSR collapse. Departing from the premise that PS is appreciated as the science of democracy, the authors claim that its identity and autonomy are particularly important. Research shows that PS in these countries started from the same impoverished basis (“scientific communism”), but it soon took diverse trajectories and currently faces specific challenges. Democracy, pro-Western geopolitical settings and the shorter period of Sovietization contributed to the faster and more sustainable development of PS in two Baltic States. However, in Estonia, political developments have led to the retrenchment of PS and to downsize of universities’ departments and study programmes. In Lithuania, political scientists are very visible in the public sphere. In Moldova, its uncertain geopolitical orientation and a series of internal political conflicts have led to the weak identity of PS and questionable prospects for its further institutionalization. In authoritarian Belarus, PS as an academic discipline exists within a hostile political environment and under a hierarchical system of governance offering practically no degree of academic freedom.

Weimar Bodies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ute Planert
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Weimar Republic ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Human Reproduction ◽  
Gainful Employment ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Conflicts ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Gendered Bodies ◽  
The Public Sphere

Like the arts and politics, sexuality, bodies, and the gender order in the Weimar Republic were sites of experimentation in and with modernity. The First World War and the revolution had accelerated the breakthrough of women into arenas such as politics, the public sphere, and professional gainful employment. Big cities provided space for sexual libertinage, in which the transgression of heterosexual norms was possible. A rationalization of sexuality took place, which combined increased freedoms and liberties with attempts at regulation. Sports became an important transmission belt for ideas of discipline, efficiency, and self-optimization. The Weimar welfare state combined the entitlement to live a healthy life with the duty to actively retain the health of one’s body. The latter included considering future generations via eugenicist ideas. A far-reaching consensus on the value of eugenics emerged, yet only under the pressure of the world economic crisis did it materialize in concrete proposals to recalibrate social policy. The final years of the Weimar Republic were marked by a remasculinization of the public sphere and a partial return to more traditional views on gender roles. Overall, gender and gendered bodies, sexuality and human reproduction, were inherent elements of the political conflicts that shaped modern society. At the end of the Weimar Republic, they were more contested than ever.

scholarly journals Complicating the Political Scientist as Blogger

2013 ◽  
Vol 46 (02) ◽  
pp. 383-386
Author(s):  
Robert Farley
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Academic Career ◽  
The Political ◽  
Multiple Models ◽  
Political Scientist ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Public Sphere

AbstractIn our efforts to make blogging an acceptable component of an academic career in political science, we ought not tame the practice of blogging beyond recognition. Multiple models exist under which blogging can contribute to the discipline of political science and through which political scientists can contribute to the public sphere.

Political Science in Real Time: Engaging the Middle East Policy Public

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-131 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Lynch
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Political Science ◽  
The Political ◽  
Good Work ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political World ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Middle East Policy

A decade ago, very few political scientists had either the opportunity or the incentive to engage with the political public in a direct, unmediated way. Today, there is a dense and eclectic ecosystem of political science and international relations-focused blogs and online publications, where good work can easily find an audience through social media. There are multiple initiatives dedicated to supporting academic interventions in the public sphere, and virtually every political or cultural magazine of note now offers a robust online section featuring commentary and analysis in which political scientists are well represented. This has transformed publication for a broader public from something exotic to something utterly routine. I discuss how these changes have affected individual scholars, the field of political science, and the political world with which we are engaged.

scholarly journals The Case for Public Policy Expertise in Political Science

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (03) ◽  
pp. 476-480
Author(s):  
Veronica Herrera ◽  
Alison E. Post
Keyword(s):  
Public Policy ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Empirical Research ◽  
Research Funding ◽  
Research Area ◽  
The Public ◽  
Innovative Work ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Academic Positions

ABSTRACTThe politics of public policy is a vibrant research area increasingly at the forefront of intellectual innovations in the discipline. We argue that political scientists are best positioned to undertake research on the politics of public policy when they possess expertise in particular policy areas. Policy expertise positions scholars to conduct theoretically innovative work and to ensure that empirical research reflects the reality they aim to analyze. It also confers important practical advantages, such as access to a significant number of academic positions and major sources of research funding not otherwise available to political scientists. Perhaps most importantly, scholars with policy expertise are equipped to defend the value of political science degrees and research in the public sphere.

Soziologische Phantasie und kosmopolitisches Gemeinwesen

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Academic Discipline ◽  
Public Domain ◽  
Special Edition ◽  
Unexpected Death ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Academic Field ◽  
The Public ◽  
Sociological Work ◽  
The Public Sphere

Since the unexpected death of Ulrich Beck, there has largely been an absence of studies and debate on the continuation of his sociological work. One reason for this might be the fact that Beck’s writings revolve strongly around public resonance and everyday political issues. His approach to sociology, which straddles the border between academia and the public sphere, therefore represents a challenge for an academic discipline which is increasingly trying to overcome its own flawed and entrenched academic unity by demanding a more public form of sociology, but which has only just begun to tackle the work of one of its most important representatives in the public domain. This special edition aims to reassess the dialogue between the sociologist Ulrich Beck and the contemporary academic field of sociology.

scholarly journals Egypt’s feminist counterpublic: The re-invigoration of the post-revolution public sphere

2019 ◽  
pp. 146144481989057
Author(s):  
Dalia Elsheikh ◽  
Darren G. Lilleker
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
The State ◽  
Political Environment ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Feminist Movements

This study examines the current feminist counterculture movements which appears to be reinvigorating the Egyptian public sphere. The study argues women in particular have been able to find themselves alternative ways to develop a discourse focused on a desire for social changes around which they can unite. In focusing on lifestyle issues that normally are discussed only in small private spheres, they are able to challenge norms while not provoking the state or security apparatus and avoiding becoming part of the polarised political environment. This article explores the dynamics and motivations of these groups through a case study of three of the networked feminist movements. Our data from semi-structured interviews with the founders show that they grew from networks to movements which then evolved in order to be sustainable. This article argues that through the process of their evolution, these movements are helping strengthen the public sphere and enhance Egyptian democracy.

Too Much Information? Political Science, the University, and the Public Sphere

2012 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 385-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Anderson
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Political Science ◽  
Modern World ◽  
The Public ◽  
Technological Structure ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The University

This article argues that the technological structure of the modern world has reshaped drastically the role of political scientists as purveyors of information. Only a few decades ago, scholars were still central to the development, collection and dissemination of knowledge. But the transformation in the availability of data due to the proliferation of social media and research engines creates a new environment in which scholars can no longer claim to be the erudite carriers of hard-to-get facts. In order to play a constructive role in this quickly changing setting, political scientists need to invent a new identity for themselves as active practitioners engaged in a dynamic dialogue with students and policymakers.

scholarly journals In search of relevance: European political scientists and the public sphere in critical times

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
José Real-Dato ◽  
Luca Verzichelli
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Academic Discipline ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Social Relevance ◽  
The Public ◽  
Social Legitimacy ◽  
Introductory Article ◽  
The Social ◽  
Turbulent Times ◽  
The Public Sphere

AbstractSocial relevance has become a key element to assess the social legitimacy of an academic discipline. This contrasts with a widespread sentiment among political scientists about the existence of a relevance gap. The context of multiple crises Europe has experienced since the late 2000s has provided political scientists with a multitude of opportunities to demonstrate the social relevance of their work and the usefulness of the discipline. This introductory article to the special issue aims to offer an explorative framework and a preliminary discussion of empirical examples to assess the phenomenon of political scientists’ relevance in the public sphere during recent turbulent times. The framework (which emphasises three basic dimensions of social relevance – partisanship, visibility, and impact) is used to interpret the main results of the five case studies included in the special issue. Results show that contextual factors (salience of the issue, political and media contexts) influence political scientists’ engagement in the public sphere, the role they adopt and their visibility. The article ends emphasising the importance of collective action within the discipline as an instrument to enhance its social relevance.

Beyond Comparing Secularisms

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yolande Jansen
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Complex Analysis ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
The Other ◽  
Political Thinking ◽  
The Public ◽  
Analysis And Evaluation ◽  
Political Conflicts ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The One

“Religio-secularism” denotes the tendency to understand specific cultural and political conflicts in terms an opposition between religion on the one hand and secularism on the other. Religio-secularism as a cultural-political paradigm tends to obscure the intricacies of political, socioeconomic, cultural-historical, religious, and ideological dimensions of specific situations (and often conflicts) that require complex analysis and evaluation. Religio-secularism, especially when it becomes the primary or exclusive framework for understanding cultural and political conflict, serves as an ideological barrier rather than an illuminating paradigm. Critique of the increasing grip of religio-secularism on political thinking, in contrast to the captivation with “postsecularism,” takes a reflexive attitude toward religio-secularism and its distorted lens through which to view the historical world. Other lenses should be used to survey contemporary events and situations related to religion, and this is particularly so with regard to conflicts over religion, religion in the public sphere, and secularism.

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