Fukushima Fixation – The Media Focus on Radiation Risk in Tsunami-Stricken Japan

2011 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-212
Author(s):  
Adam Burgess
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Radiation Risk ◽  
Nuclear Accident ◽  
Risk Society ◽  
Nuclear Threat ◽  
New Era ◽  
The Media ◽  
German Sociologist ◽  
Society Perspective

Twenty five years on from Chernobyl, the tragic events in Japan of March 2011 seem to reaffirm the ‘risk society’ perspective which the 1986 nuclear accident in the former Soviet Union did so much to popularise. It was amidst widespread predictions of mass harm – projected both across Europe and into the future – that German sociologist Ulrich Beck’s book of the same name found such a receptive audience. Beck wrote of a new era defined by the greater risk posed by ‘manufactured’, technological risk than natural, ‘external’ ones. The way in which the possible, nuclear threat from the damaged Fukushima nuclear plant looms larger than the devastation and the thousands actually killed by the ‘natural’ earthquake and tsunami reminds us of Beck's distinction.

Employment, Individualization and Insecurity: Rethinking the Risk Society Perspective

2005 ◽  
Vol 53 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gabe Mythen
Keyword(s):  
Western Europe ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Risk Society ◽  
Sweeping Process ◽  
Employment Relations ◽  
Environmental Transitions ◽  
German Sociologist ◽  
Social Distribution ◽  
Society Perspective ◽  
The Relationship

German sociologist Ulrich Beck maintains that economic, technological and environmental transitions have radically reshaped employment relations in Western Europe. Whilst theories of employment transformation are historically ubiquitous, Beck's contribution is rather unique. Utilising risk as a lens through which subterranean shifts in employment, the economy and society can be visualised, Beck's work has been heralded as a significant theoretical landmark. The risk society perspective emphasizes the diffusion of two interlinked macro-social processes. Firstly, Beck identifies a sweeping process of individualization which recursively generates personal insecurity and reflexive decision-making. Secondly, changes in the relationship between capital and labour are said to have facilitated an underlying shift in the pattern of social distribution. This paper scrutinises Beck's understanding of these two processes, as a means of developing a broader critique of the risk society perspective. Theoretically, it will be argued that Beck deploys unsophisticated and artificial categories, amalgamates disparate forms of risk and compacts together diverse employment experiences. Empirically, the paper demonstrates that – far from being directed by a universal axis of risk – labour market inequalities follow the grooves etched by traditional forms of stratification.

Writing the Intifada Collective Action in the Occupied Territories

1993 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 560-594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian S. Lustick
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Gaza Strip ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Occupied Territories ◽  
West Bank And Gaza ◽  
The Media ◽  
The One ◽  
The Individual

The five-year-old Palestinian uprising, the intifada, was the first of many mass mobilizations against nondemocratic rule to appear in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, East Asia, and the former Soviet Union between 1987 and 1991. Although the Palestinian struggle against Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip is seldom included by the media or by social scientists in their treatments of this putative wave of “democratization,” many studies of the uprising are available. Although largely atheoretic in their construction of the intifada and in their explanations for it, the two general questions posed by most of these authors are familiar to students of collective action and revolution. On the one hand, why did it take twenty years for the Palestinians to launch the uprising? On the other hand, how, in light of the individual costs of participation and the negligible impact of any one person's decision to participate, could it have occurred at all? The work under review provides broad support for recent trends in the analysis of revolution and collection action, while illustrating both the opportunities and the constraints associated with using monographic literature as a data base.

scholarly journals Žiniasklaida užsienio kalbomis Lietuvoje: ką renkasi vartotojai

2009 ◽  
Vol 51 ◽  
pp. 144-159
Author(s):  
Laima Nevinskaitė
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Political Influence ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Printed Media ◽  
The Media ◽  
Foreign Media ◽  
Watching Tv ◽  
Media Choices

Straipsnyje pateikiama žiniasklaidos užsienio kalbomis pasirinkimo tarp Lietuvos didmiesčių gyventojų lietuvių analizė, atlikta remiantis reprezentatyvios šių miestų gyventojų apklausos duomenimis. Daugiausiai dėmesio skiriama žiniasklaidos rusų ir anglų kalbomis pasirinkimo analizei: kaip dažnai mokantys rusų ir (ar) anglų kalbas renkasi žiniasklaidą šiomis kalbomis, kaip šie pasirinkimai yra pasiskirstę tarp amžiaus grupių, koks žiniasklaidos užsienio kalbomis vartojimo dažnumas, palyginti su kitomis kalbų vartojimo sritimis. Remiantis skirtingais teoriniais požiūriais į kalbos ir tapatybės santykį, žiniasklaidos užsienio kalbomis vartojimą galima vertinti dvejopai: kaip kultūrinės, lingvistinės ir politinės įtakos šaltinį arba tiesiog vartotojo galimybių rinktis jo poreikius tenkinantį žiniasklaidos turinį išplėtimą.Pagrindiniai žodžiai: žiniasklaidos vartojimas, žiniasklaida užsienio kalbomis, globalizacija.Media in Foreign Languages in Lithuania: Consumer ChoicesLaima Nevinskaitė SummaryThe author analyses the use of media in foreign languages, mostly Russian and English, among Lithuanians living in the main cities of Lithuania (Vilnius, Kaunas and Klaipeda). The analysis is based on data of a representative survey on the knowledge of languages and their use in these cities, performed within the research project “Cities and Languages” by Vilnius Universit).The use of media in foreign languages is important in several respects, which are discussed in the article. First, it can be regarded as a source of cultural and linguistic influence within the context of cultural and linguistic globalisation. In Lithuania and in other former Soviet Union states, media in Russian are also treated as a potential source of political influence. Second, it is important in respect of media market, since foreign media can be regarded as a source of a wider content choice for media consumer.Results of the analysis have shown that a significant part of Lithuanians (up to 40 per cent) frequently use media in foreign languages, although the number of frequent users still lags behind the amount of those who use the media in Lithuanian. The data show a wider knowledge of Russian and generally a wider use of mass media in Russian. Russian is used more often than English as a language for listening radio and watching TV; the use of printed media (books and periodicals) in Russian is higher, but close to that in English; English is much wider used as a language of the internet use. The trends are clearly more positive for English, since it is more popular among young people, even among those who know Russian as well. The article includes a further analysis of media choices among those who know the languages in question, these choices among the age groups, and the frequency of media use in foreign languages in comparison to the use of those languages in other domains.

Pulling up the Drawbridge

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 109-136
Author(s):  
Michael A. Hansen ◽  
Jonathan Olsen
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Political Ideology ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Vote Choice ◽  
Recent Scholarship ◽  
Political Refugees ◽  
Large Numbers ◽  
The Media ◽  
Russian Germans ◽  
Alternative For Germany

The most recent scholarship on the Alternative for Germany (AfD) indicates that citizens primarily cast a vote for the party based on anti-immigrant or xenophobic attitudes. Nevertheless, prominent figures from the AfD suggest that many Germany citizens with immigrant backgrounds vote for it—an argument that has been picked up by the media. In this article, we investigate the most likely potential constituency of immigrants that might support the AfD: ethnic German migrants from the former Soviet Union, so-called Russian-Germans. Using the 2017 Immigrant German Election Study (imges), we find that these ethnic German migrants from the former Soviet Union indeed voted for the AfD in relatively large numbers when compared to the overall population. Furthermore, when predicting vote choice, we find that the main predictor of voting for the AfD among Russian-Germans is not political ideology but rather a simple hostility towards new refugees. Crucially, migrants with a Soviet background are more likely to vote for the AfD if they hold the position that there should be no economic or political refugees allowed into the country.

Preface: Democratic Transition in Africa

1993 ◽  
Vol 21 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 6-7
Author(s):  
Guy Martin
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
International System ◽  
Transition To Democracy ◽  
Political Repression ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Human Rights Abuses ◽  
New Era ◽  
Supportive Environment

Since 1989, the “winds of change” have swept throughout Africa, signaling the dawn of a new era, variously referred to as the “second independence,” or the “Springtime of Africa.” After three decades of authoritarian one- (or no) party rule characterized by political repression, human rights abuses, economic mismanagement, nepotism and corruption, democracy is spreading like bushfire throughout Africa. In 1992 an evaluation of the Carter Center’s African Governance Program, noted that 9 African countries may be described as “democratic,” 4 are under a “directed democracy” regime, and 31 are in transition to democracy, with various degrees of commitment. Popular struggles for democracy in Africa are not new, they have been here since independence. But recent changes in the structure of the international system (notably successful popular struggles for democracy in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union) have created a generally favorable and supportive environment for their development and maturation.

scholarly journals THE ROLE OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS IN “COLORFUL REVOLUTIONS

2020 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
B. A. Eserkepova ◽  
◽  
U. K. Organova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
Governmental Organizations ◽  
Non Governmental Organizations ◽  
Color Revolutions ◽  
The Media ◽  
Global Influence

This article discusses the emergence of new challenges and threats associated with the forcible transformation of political systems as a result of the use of the technology of “color revolutions”. In the current conditions, competition for resources, territories, and global influence has sharply intensified. The beginning of the XXI century demonstrated the appearance of the phenomenon of “color revolutions” in political practice which led to a change in the political elite in a number of post-Soviet countries. Colorful revolutions were communicative in nature, many events took place in the information space, and then in reality, so the main means of counteraction were the media. Many non-governmental organizations in the former Soviet Union received informational support from their own print or electronic media, as well as from periodicals owned or controlled by some representatives of the oligarchic capital.

Subversive identity and cultural production by the Russian-Israeli Generation 1.5

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 925-941 ◽  
Author(s):  
Larissa Remennick ◽  
Anna Prashizky
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Cultural Production ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Female Leadership ◽  
Generation 1.5 ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Hebrew Poetry ◽  
Avant Garde ◽  
Cultural Public Sphere ◽  
The Media

This article belongs to the series presenting our ongoing ethnographic project on the Russian-Israeli Generation 1.5. It discusses the nexus between immigrant identity, civic activism and cultural production among young adults born in the (former) Soviet Union, who migrated to Israel as older children or adolescents. We examine the new, protest-driven activism among young Russian Israelis while drawing on the concepts of reactive ethnicity and cultural public sphere. This identity quest occurs at the intersection of their Russian, Jewish and Israeli identities that often clash with each other. Moreover, the ethnic awakening among these young immigrant adults has been clearly gendered, with mostly female leadership emerging out of its cultural avant-garde. We present and discuss examples of the media discourse, artistic and creative events organized by Generation 1.5 leaders, focusing on the recent Russian–Hebrew poetry festival in Jerusalem.

The Co-Construction of Europe as a Jewish Home

Jews at Home ◽  
2010 ◽  
pp. 301-306
Author(s):  
Joachim Schlör
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Soviet Union ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Berlin Wall ◽  
Henri Lefebvre ◽  
Peace Accord ◽  
New Era ◽  
European Culture ◽  
Communist Countries

This chapter reflects on the author's experience in Europe where, he reports, the revival of Jewish culture is engineered by non-Jews as well as Jews, and the author ponders the meaning of this co-construction. It draws on the ideas and notions of Henri Lefèbvre, Diana Pinto, Ruth Ellen Gruber, David Biale, and some others. Here, ‘Jewish space’ becomes a point of focus as a co-constructed field of cultural and political activity. This space is examined within the context of the post-World War II period — with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the breakdown of communism, with the peaceful manner in which these events had taken place, with the possibility of a peace accord in the Middle East, and with the beginning of a substantial immigration of Jews from the former Soviet Union into Europe and especially Germany. This period heralded a new era for Europe, in which Jewish life and culture could take part. Not only would there be a heightened awareness of the Jewish contribution to European culture, but also a common endeavour to foster democracy and freedom in the post-communist countries of central and eastern Europe.

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