scholarly journals On the Public Discourse of Religion: An Analysis of Christianity in the United Kingdom

2009 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 420-443 ◽  
Author(s):  
Steve Kettell
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Initial Step ◽  
Large Degree ◽  
Moral Authority ◽  
Public Realm ◽  
The Public ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Religious Issues ◽  
The Public Sphere

AbstractDebates over the involvement of religion in the public sphere look set to be one of the defining themes of the 21st century. But while religious issues have attracted a large degree of scholarly attention, the public discourse of religion itself, in terms of the effort to assert and legitimize a role for faith in the public realm, has remained notably under-researched. This article marks an initial step to address this deficiency by deconstructing the public discourse of Christianity in the United Kingdom. It argues that, while appealing for representation on the grounds of liberal equality, the overall goal of this discourse is to establish a role for itself as a principal source of moral authority, and to exempt itself from the evidentially-based standards and criteria that govern public life.

scholarly journals The Diverging Presence of Youth in Public Discourse: A Comparative Analysis of Youth-Related Debates Across Countries and Issue Fields

2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (5) ◽  
pp. 574-590
Author(s):  
Christian Lahusen ◽  
Johannes Kiess
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Opinion Formation ◽  
The Public ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Public Debates ◽  
Policy Fields ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Criminal Matters

Youth is a recurrent topic of public debates, particularly because youth features in almost all issue fields discussed in mass media, ranging from educational and cultural to criminal matters. However, previous research has highlighted that youth is not necessarily actively involved in raising its own voice within the public sphere, which gives cause for concerns about the representation of youth in public discourses and thus in democratic opinion formation. This article wishes to critically assess the proposition that young people are objects of public discourses rather than active participants. For this purpose, it will analyze public statements reported in newspapers of nine countries (Germany, France, Greece, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom). The analysis makes conceptual use of claims-making analysis and tries to identify contextual factors that determine the extent to which youth actors actively participate in public discourses. In particular, we wish to assess whether discursive inclusion or exclusion of youth is patterned along countries and/or policy fields. Our findings show that policy fields are the most important contextual factors. Moreover, considering claims and actors, public debates about youth are rather similar between the nine countries. This indicates that public debates about youth are patterned by a similar, cross-national differentiation along policy domains.

scholarly journals Surpassing the era of disengaged acceptance: The future of public discourse on nuclear energy

2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-86
Author(s):  
Gábor Sarlós ◽  
Mariann Fekete
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Communication Technology ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Nuclear Energy ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Economic Status ◽  
The Public ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Value Sets ◽  
Global Uncertainty

Both the United Kingdom and Hungary run ambitious nuclear power plans to keep nuclear power as an important element of their energy mixes. The objective of the analysis is to identify if there is the intent and the possibility for a different form of public engagement in shaping the nuclear future. The study builds on the comparative analysis of the cases of Hungary and the United Kingdom. The ‘communication packages’ theory serves as reference of comparison. The study finds that changing social value sets and communication technology developments create challenges to governments in securing support for the nuclear agenda. Th is challenge creates an opportunity for members of the public with ‘reluctant acceptance’ of the nuclear agenda. Building on global uncertainty, challenges to the prevailing political and economic status quo, together with the growing influence of social media might assist the public to become vocal in their opinions about nuclear energy.

Empire and Eugenics

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 445-454
Author(s):  
Ezra Horbury ◽  
Christine “Xine” Yao
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
British Empire ◽  
Gender Recognition ◽  
The Public ◽  
Radical Feminist ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Trans Studies ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Uk

Abstract This essay offers an overview of trans studies in the United Kingdom in the current climate of transphobia in both academia and the public sphere. This report outlines how trans-exclusionary radical feminist scholars have co-opted the language of victimization and academic freedom following proposed changes to the Gender Recognition Act in 2018. The production of ignorance about trans issues and trans studies is a deliberate project abetted by the UK media even on the left. In response, the authors organized an interdisciplinary trans symposium to affirm trans lives and trans studies for students, scholars, and the wider community. The authors reflect on the successes and failures of the event in light of their institution's past as the origin of eugenics founded by Frances Galton and the broader scope of the legacies of the British empire.

scholarly journals The Contribution of Religiosity to Ideology: Empirical Evidences From Five Continents

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (5) ◽  
pp. 524-541 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gian Vittorio Caprara ◽  
Michele Vecchione ◽  
Shalom H. Schwartz ◽  
Harald Schoen ◽  
Paul G. Bain ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
United Kingdom ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Other ◽  
Unique Contribution ◽  
The Public ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Basic Personal Values

The current study examines the extent to which religiosity account for ideological orientations in 16 countries from five continents (Australia, Brazil, Chile, Germany, Greece, Finland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Poland, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, the United Kingdom, and the United States). Results showed that religiosity was consistently related to right and conservative ideologies in all countries, except Australia. This relation held across different religions, and did not vary across participant’s demographic conditions (i.e., gender, age, income, and education). After controlling for basic personal values, the contribution of religiosity on ideology was still significant. However, the effect was substantial only in countries where religion has played a prominent role in the public sphere, such as Spain, Poland, Greece, Italy, Slovakia, and Turkey. In the other countries, the unique contribution of religiosity was marginal or small.

On Waxen Wings: Challenges to the Public Sphere in the Network Age

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Francoeur
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
The Internet ◽  
The Public ◽  
Digital Space ◽  
Multiple Viewpoints ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Economic Production ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Communicative Space

There is a tendency, particularly among Western pundits and technologists, to examine the Internet in almost universally positive terms; this is most evident in any discussion of the medium’s capacity for democratization. While the Internet has produced many great things for society in terms of cultural and economic production, some consideration must be given to the implications that such a revolutionary medium holds for the public sphere. By creating a communicative space that essentially grants everyone his or her own microphone, the Internet is fragmenting public discourse due to the proliferation of opinions and messages and the removal of traditional gatekeepers of information. More significantly, because of the structural qualities of the Internet, users no longer have to expose themselves to opinions and viewpoints that fall outside their own preconceived notions. This limits the robustness of the public sphere by limiting the healthy debate that can only occur when exposed to multiple viewpoints. Ultimately, the Internet is not going anywhere, so it is important to equip the public with the tools and knowledge to be able to navigate the digital space. 

The British Are Coming!

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernardo Bátiz-Lazo
Keyword(s):  
United Kingdom ◽  
Historical Record ◽  
Prime Mover ◽  
The Public ◽  
The United Kingdom

Chapter 3 (‘The British Are Coming!’) explains the origins of the technology in the United Kingdom. It is widely assumed that the operation of a machine in the Enfield branch of Barclays was the ‘prime mover’ in this industry. However, the historical record fails to identify a hero inventor; rather multiple independent versions of the cash machine were launched at more or less the same time in different countries. Yet in spite of the great fanfare, there was no real race to market. There is no evidence the engineers responsible for them knew of each other’s existence before this launch (but many bankers did). Four years later, very few members of the public knew the cash machine existed, even less had used them and only a handful found them convenient.

scholarly journals Introduction: Publics and Participation in Early Modern Britain

2017 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 709-730 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura A. M. Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Cultural Exchange ◽  
The Public ◽  
Cultural Boundaries ◽  
Modern Britain ◽  
Institutional Variation ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Important Shift

AbstractThe deconstruction of what is termed “the public sphere” in recent decades has resulted in an important shift in scholarly attention towards networks and forms of association. This article explores how greater sensitivity to the unstable and ephemeral nature of “publics,” combined with a stronger awareness of the role of cultural exchange, has undoubtedly enriched our understanding of early modern politics. Some analytical precision has, nonetheless, been lost. A justifiable emphasis on the artificiality of the territorial borders that have defined units of enquiry has occurred at the expense of deeper consideration of the cultural boundaries that dictated the terms on which people could participate in and shape public discourse. Study of the British archipelago can offer new ways of thinking about these problems. Linguistic and ethnic differences, the search for religious concord as well as the reality of confessional division, institutional variation, and the consequences of London's increasing dominance of the archipelago, are key facets of the reassessments undertaken here. The article concludes by reflecting on how interactions between varieties of “public” and other forms of association can nuance our understanding of early modern state formation.

scholarly journals UNDERSTANDING LAW AND RELIGION AS CULTURE: MAKING ROOM FOR MEANING IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (1, 2 & 3) ◽  
pp. 2006
Author(s):  
Benjamin L. Berger
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
Law And Politics ◽  
Important Relationship ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between law and religion in contemporary civil society has been a topic of increasing social interest and importance in Canada in the past many years. We have seen the practices and commitments of religious groups and individuals become highly salient on many issues of public policy, including the nature of the institution of marriage, the content of public education, and the uses of public space, to name just a few. As the vehicle for this discussion, I want to ask a straightforward question: When we listen to our public discourse, what is the story that we hear about the relationship between law and religion? How does this topic tend to be spoken about in law and politics – what is our idiom around this issue – and does this story serve us well? Though straightforward, this question has gone all but unanswered in our political and academic discussions. We take for granted our approach to speaking about – and, therefore, our way of thinking about – the relationship between law and religion. In my view, this is most unfortunate because this taken-for-grantedness is the source of our failure to properly understand the critically important relationship between law and religion.

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