Ancient cynicism: a case for salvage

2010 ◽  
Vol 36 (S1) ◽  
pp. 201-223
Author(s):  
PIERS REVELL
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
President Obama ◽  
The Public ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Ancient Cynicism

AbstractTaking a quote from President Obama as its starting point, this article examines the usages of the word cynicism in politics, business and International Relations. It distinguishes five different forms: accusative; reflexive; projective; cathartic and ancient. When used accusatively, the cynic is an archetype we see in others whose character or actions we wish to reproach. When used reflexively, the cynic is a social archetype we identify with ourselves. Projective cynicism is the means by which an impertinent discourse may be playfully distanced. Cathartic cynicism is a means by which mental conflict is mediated. Ancient cynicism was a utopian attempt to negotiate the contradiction between cosmopolitanism and the overwhelming reality of slavery. The article concludes that it may be worthwhile comparing and contrasting all these forms of cynicism out in the public sphere.

scholarly journals A National Public Sphere? Analyzing the Language, Location, and Form of Newspapers in Finland, 1771–1917

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 54-77
Author(s):  
Jani Marjanen ◽  
Ville Vaara ◽  
Antti Kanner ◽  
Hege Roivainen ◽  
Eetu Mäkelä ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Cultural History ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Mass Medium ◽  
Historical Knowledge ◽  
The Public ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Newspaper History

This article uses metadata from serial publications as a means of modelling the historical development of the public sphere. Given that a great deal of historical knowledge is generated through narratives relying on anecdotal evidence, any attempt to rely on newspapers for modeling the past challenges customary approaches in political and cultural history. The focus in this article is on Finland, but our approach is also scalable to other regions. During the period 1771–1917 newspapers developed as a mass medium in the Grand Duchy of Finland within two imperial configurations (Sweden until 1809 and Russia in 1809–1917), and in the two main languages – Swedish and Finnish. Finland is an ideal starting point for conducting comparative studies in that its bilingual profile already includes two linguistically separated public spheres that nonetheless were heavily connected. Our particular interest here is in newspaper metadata, which we use to trace the expansion of public discourse in Finland by statistical means. We coordinate information on publication places, language, number of issues, number of words, newspaper size, and publishers, which we compare with existing scholarship on newspaper history and censorship, and thereby offer a more robust statistical analysis of newspaper publishing in Finland than has previously been possible. We specifically examine the interplay between the Swedish- and Finnish-language newspapers and show that, whereas the public discussions were inherently bilingual, the technological and journalistic developments advanced at different pace in the two language forums. This analysis challenges the perception of a uniform public sphere in the country. In addition, we assess the development of the press in comparison with the production of books and periodicals, which points toward the specialization of newspapers as a medium in the period after 1860. This confirms some earlier findings about Finnish print production. We then show how this specialization came about through the establishment of forums for local debates that other less localized print media such as magazines and books could not provide.

scholarly journals Withdrawing from politics? Gender, agency and women ex-fighters in Nepal

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (6) ◽  
pp. 519-536 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanna Ketola
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Feminist Theory ◽  
Gender Norms ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
The Public ◽  
Post Conflict ◽  
Liberal Peace ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Experiences Of Women

Conceptualizations of post-conflict agency have been widely debated in feminist security studies and critical international relations studies. This article distinguishes between three feminist approaches to post-conflict agency: narrative of return, representations of agency and local agency. It argues that all these approaches in distinct ways emphasize a modality of agency as resistance. To offer a more encompassing account of post-conflict agency the article engages Saba Mahmood’s (2012) critique of the modality of agency in feminist theory and her decoupling of agency from resistance. The article explores experiences of women who fought in the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Nepal. It focuses on ‘withdrawing from politics’, a dynamic whereby women ex-fighters move away from party activities and the public sphere, and rearticulates this withdrawing as a location of political agency. The article argues that being an ‘ex-PLA’ emerges as a form of subjectivity that is crafted through experiencing war and encountering peacebuilding, enabling a production of heterogeneous modalities of agency in the post-conflict context. By examining these modalities, the article challenges us to rethink post-conflict agency beyond the capacity to subvert regulatory gender norms and/or discourses of liberal peace.

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 Danske meningsdannere om køn og kulturel mangfoldighed

Politik ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Helene Pristed Nielsen
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
Feminist Criticism ◽  
Think Tanks ◽  
The Public ◽  
Editorial Boards ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Empirical Material

Taking its theoretical starting point in the feminist criticism of Habermas ́ conception of the public sphere, the article illustrates on the basis of empirical material how 14 Danish opinion-makers talk about gender equality and cultural diversity. The statements by prominent members of Danish political parties, think tanks, social movements and editorial boards of national dailies are analysed in an intersectional perspective, which seeks to illuminate different conceptions of cross-cutting forms of diversity within Danish society. The conclusion is that gender equality is often voiced as both a Danish and a European value, whereas there are ambiguous statements about to what extent there is a connection between gender equality and perceptions of Islam as either a religion or a culture. 

The Dewey-Lippmann Debate Today: Communication Distortions, Reflective Agency, and Participatory Democracy

2005 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 156-178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Whipple
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Participation ◽  
Political Theory ◽  
Social Theory ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
The Public ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Advanced Capitalism ◽  
Current Context ◽  
The Public Sphere

In this article, I introduce the Dewey-Lippmann democracy debate of the 1920s as a vehicle for considering how social theory can enhance the empirical viability of participatory democratic theory within the current context of advanced capitalism. I situate within this broad theoretical framework the theories of Habermas and Dewey. In the process, I argue (a) that while Dewey largely failed to reconcile his democratic ideal with the empirical constraint of large-scale organizations, Habermas, in particular his work on the public sphere, provides an important starting point for considering the state of public participation within the communication distortions of advanced capitalism; (b) that to fully understand the relation between communication distortions and public participation, social theorists must look beyond Habermas and return to Dewey to mobilize his bi-level view of habitual and reflective human agency; and, finally, (c) that the perspective of a Deweyan political theory of reflective agency best furthers our understanding of potential communication distortions and public participation, particularly in the empirical spaces of media centralization and intellectual property rights.

Structural Analysis to Measure the Influence of Think Tanks’ Networks in the Digital Era

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 363-395
Author(s):  
Juan Luis Manfredi-Sánchez ◽  
Juan Antonio Sánchez-Giménez ◽  
Juan Pizarro-Miranda
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Structural Analysis ◽  
International Relations ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Research Method ◽  
Think Tanks ◽  
The Public ◽  
Digital Era ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Public Sphere

Ideas fuel power, giving means, understanding and arguments to the public sphere. Think tanks are the most influential actors in creating and disseminating such ideas in the field of international relations. This article analyses the networks of relations among think tanks in order better to understand their nature and the ways in which they operate in a global reality, organized by geographical areas. The research method is by structural analysis, using raw data collected on Twitter. Most of the think tanks selected are those categorized by the gotothinktank.com study. The main conclusions are that English is the predominant language, that geography still matters in influencing ideas and that us-based think tanks lead the social media conversation.

Religion in the Public Sphere—with Dietrich Bonhoeffer towards a Renewed Understanding of ‘the Two Kingdoms’

2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 269-288
Author(s):  
Torbjörn Johansson
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Reason ◽  
Religion And Politics ◽  
Dietrich Bonhoeffer ◽  
Liberal Democracies ◽  
The Public ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Two Kingdoms ◽  
The Church

In this article Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s critical reception of the Lutheran doctrine of the two kingdoms is related to the discussion about religion and politics in liberal democracies. Bonhoeffer experienced not only how the church isolated itself from the political sphere—by a ‘pseudo-Lutheran’ doctrine of the two kingdoms—but also how the church was politicized and abused by Deutsche Christen. His theological thinking is therefore a helpful starting point to formulate a theology which is politically relevant without being transformed into politics. Against the background of Bonhoeffer’s theology an argument is advanced that a renewed understanding of the two kingdoms assists the church in being focused on the Gospel, at the same time as it can also give the church instruments to be present in the public sphere with well-defined pretensions, which clarifies whether the assertions of the church are based on revelation or on public reason.

scholarly journals Ecological Citizenship: Habitus of Care in the Public Sphere

Problemos ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 93 ◽  
pp. 129-141
Author(s):  
Aistė Bartkienė ◽  
Renata Bikauskaitė ◽  
Marius Povilas Šaulauskas
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Ethics Of Care ◽  
Individual Responsibility ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
The Public ◽  
English Only ◽  
Ecological Citizenship ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Public Sphere

[full article, abstract in English; only abstract in Lithuanian] While scholars and popular writers often stress individual responsibility as a way of saving nature, there is a growing understanding that “doing one’s bit” may not be enough to address local and global environmental issues. Focusing on the concept of ecological citizenship as a starting point, our paper seeks to explore the concept of ecological citizenship and show how individualized experiences and socially and culturally embedded practices of care for the environment relate to civic engagement. We connect ecological citizenship with the ethics of care and Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of habitus, which links individual experience of embodied care for environment with broader political and social issues. We argue that the perspective of the ethics of care informed by the concept of habitus broadens the concept of ecological citizenship by, on the one hand, highlighting the rational responsibility to care, and, on the other hand, by revealing how affect-based ties to the environment and established habits of caring are cultivated in local communities. Ecological citizenship based on the habitus of care can be seen as exercised in participation in the public sphere and also through caring practices where public and private fields overlap.

scholarly journals Scenekunstens (for)handlingsrom etter 22. juli

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Siemke Böhnisch
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Cultural Dynamics ◽  
The Public ◽  
Symbolic Space ◽  
Terror Attacks ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Strongly Connected ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Context Specific

In this article I discuss theatre’s scope of action after the 2011 terror attacks in Norway (“22. July”), with an emphasis on independent theatre, aesthetic heteronomy and the public sphere. A theatre manager’s (Jon Refsdal Moe) retrospect account of and reflections upon a case of self-censoring is the starting point for my (re-)examination of the arguments and dynamics concerning some of the most prominent contentious 22. July performances. I discuss how the controversies can be understood and dealt with, and how they are connected to theatre’s scope of action and place in society today. In my argument, I differentiate between the public sphere as an arena for discussion and debate (which theatre, as an institution, more or less has lost its impact on), and the public, conceived as an imagined community (which theatre still is strongly connected to, as assigned a publics’ symbolic space). I argue that the controversies about the 22. July performances, as well as the usage of marginal spaces, have to be understood as part of a far-reaching cultural dynamics after the terror attacks, concerning not only the arts, but numerous sectors of society, and that the performances aesthetic heteronomy requires a work- and context specific approach.

scholarly journals Introduction

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Christian Fuchs ◽  
Klaus Unterberger
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Service ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Dominant Form ◽  
The Public ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Public Sphere

This chapter introduces the book’s context. It describes the process that led to the creation of the Public Service Media and Public Service Internet Manifesto. The basic starting point was the insight that the survival of public service media is in danger, that the dominant form of the Internet and Internet platforms undermines the democratic public sphere, and that we need new forms of the Internet and the media in order to safeguard and renew democracy and the public sphere.

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