Ubuntu: Toward a New Public Discourse

World War I and its aftermath produced a particularly vulnerable group of child victims: war orphans. This group included children whose fathers had fallen in battle, who had disappeared, or who had not (yet) returned home. Most of Europe’s war and postwar societies witnessed the massive presence of these child victims, and responded in various ways to rescue them and secure their future survival. This article offers an exploration of the ways in which the Hungarian part of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy, and then later the post-imperial Hungarian state, became invested in providing care and relief to Hungarian war orphans. In contrast to other groups of child victims, whose parents were blamed for neglecting their parental duties, war orphans as the offspring of ‘war heroes’ profited from the public appreciation of their fathers’ sacrifice for the war effort and the Hungarian nation. The public discourse in the contemporary Hungarian media offers a glimpse into the emergence of a new public visibility of these child victims and of a new recognition of the societal obligation to care for them. Exploring World War I and its aftermath as a telling example of political transformation in the 20th century, the article showcases how war orphans were taken to personify essential notions of war- and postwar destruction, while also capturing visions of postwar recovery. It furthermore examines how welfare discourses and relief practices for Hungary’s war orphans were embedded in contemporary gender norms, notions of proper Christian morality and ethnic nationalism. On this basis, the article assesses the ways in which the case of Hungary’s war orphans not only mirrors the professionalization but also the fundamental transformation of child welfare in the aftermath of World War I.

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The Role of Twitter in Opening New Domains of Discourse in the Public Sphere

International Journal of Information Systems and Social Change ◽

10.4018/ijissc.2020070101 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 1-18

Author(s):

Badreya Nasser Al-Jenaibi

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Public Sphere ◽

Public Discourse ◽

Arab World ◽

Arabian Gulf ◽

The Public ◽

New Public ◽

The Public Sphere ◽

Use Of Social Media ◽

Flow Of Information

The use of Twitter to coordinate political dialogue and crisis communication has been a vital key to its legitimization. In the past few years, the users of Twitter were increased in the GCC. Also, the use of social media has received a lot of ‘buzz' due to the events that unfurled in the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt during the Arab Spring. Although not as dramatic as overthrowing a regime, the use of social media has been revolutionary in most areas of the Middle East, especially in the most conservative societies that have been relatively closed to the flow of information. Saudi Arabia and the UAE, for example, now have the largest-growing Twitter community of all the nations in the Arabian Gulf. Known for its tight rein on public discourse and the flow of information, even elements of the current regime are opening doors to a new public discourse, due in large part to the influence of social media. This paper explores the social media phenomenon that has had such an impact on the relatively closed societies of the Arab world, examining how it has changed the nature of the public sphere. The researcher used content analysis of four GCC journalists' accounts for four months. The paper concludes that the use of Twitter is shifting the Arab public's discourse and opinions in the region because those opinions are being heard instead of censored. Social media is having a major impact on the conservative Saudi, Qatar, and UAE societies.

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The Rise of Chinese Internet Language: Product and Agent of Globalization from Below

Global Chinese ◽

10.1515/glochi-2015-1005 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 111-137 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Yun Xiao

Keyword(s):

Social Change ◽

International Development ◽

Information Exchange ◽

Public Discourse ◽

Social Conditions ◽

Network Information ◽

Online Technologies ◽

Life Chances ◽

Theoretical Perspectives ◽

New Public

Abstract As globalization presses on in China a market economy and democracy have been developed, and ordinary people obtained opportunities at many levels. One of them is their tangible access to media networks, computer facilities, online technologies, and global information exchange, which leads to the rise and expansion of Chinese Internet Language (CIL). Drawing on theoretical perspectives from globalization research, such as globalization and transformation (Steger 2009), as well as globalization and language (Fairclough 2006, 2009), this study intends to examine the emerging CIL and its role in social change. Taking a globalization and language approach, this study seeks to answer questions such as: What characterizes the CIL? How does the CIL reflect the changing social conditions in contemporary China? And how does the cyber community generate new public discourse that drives the changing China? Data used for this study are from three major sources: (1) The corpus-based annual national reports entitled The Language Situation in China《中国语言生活状况报告》Zhongguo Yuyan Shenghuo Zhuangkuang Baogao from 2005 to 2013 (English version in Volumes 1 and 2 of Language Policies and Practices in China, Yuming Li and Wei Li, 2013, 2014), (2) the Semi-Annual Report on International Development in China by CNNIC (China Internet Network Information Center), and (3) recent Chinese publications, online or printed. Collectively, the data indicate that, with globalization rapidly changing and seriously challenging China, its social conditions and people’s life chances are radically changing, which are measured, evaluated, and reflected on by the language use of grassroots people that is marked with innovations, catch words, and novel forms. Officially branded as low standard and crude, CIL binds together a Chinese-speaking cyber community that generates new public discourse as the pushing hand and uncompromising challenger of the social change “from below.”

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Die Algemene Sinode van die Nederduitse Gereformeerde Kerk van 1990 en die Gelofte van 1838

In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi ◽

10.4102/ids.v55i1.2717 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 55 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Piet J. Strauss

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Public Discourse ◽

Minority Groups ◽

Dutch Reformed ◽

Reformed Church ◽

New Public ◽

The Individual ◽

Biblical Perspective ◽

Christian Society ◽

Dutch Reformed Church

The General Synod of the Dutch Reformed Church of 1990 and the Covenant of 1838. The Dutch Reformed Church as a church consisting of mainly Afrikaners, was confronted by a new societal dispensation and a new government in South Africa in and after 1994. The trend of the new constitution of 1996, as well as a new public discourse laid the emphasis on the individual and his rights in a society open to all. This discourse implicitly communicated negative tones on actions, activating minority groups for their own separate ideas. As if the General Synod expected this coming challenge, the Synod of 1990 already had a report of its Commission on Doctrine and Actual Affairs on the Dutch Reformed Church, keeping the Day of the Covenant of the Voortrekkers in 1838. This article investigated the stance of this General Synod on this issue with two, seemingly main objectives: an acceptable, grounded reason for people to keep the Day of the Covenant, and a positive link between the Covenant of 1838 and reconciliation in a modern South Africa. The method used was a study of literature and primary sources on these issues. The General Synod of 1990 made two relevant statements in its new environment. In the first place, it decided that individuals should associate with the Covenant on moral grounds and not because they are forced to do so. The core of the Covenant of 1838 was the request that God enable people taking the vow, to win the battle foreseen – the Battle of Blood River – and to promote Christian values for establishing a new Christian society. An issue which is still relevant in South Africa today. That is why the Voortrekkers promised to build a church as the focus point of their forseen society. The second statement of this Synod was that reconciliation as a catchword in the 1990s in Christian South Africa, is part of the promotion of a Christian society. Reconciliation in a biblical perspective remains relevant in South Africa.Contribution: Seen from the approach of this article as a Christian approach, these statements of the General Synod of 1990 help the Dutch Reformed Church as church to fulfil its tasks in Soutern Africa today.

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