Banal nationalism and belonging within the echoed imagined community

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 627-644 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cynthia J. White
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Imagined Communities ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Imagined Community ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Everyday Activities ◽  
User Comments ◽  
New Public

Contexts for the performance of banal nationalism and belonging have changed markedly with the emergence of the Internet as a significant constituent and mediator of everyday activities. National anthems, depicted as echoed realizations of the imagined community, now exist in cyberspace, offering new public spaces for observing, participating in and responding to anthem spectacles. Drawing on the notion of ‘networked narratives’ (Page, Harper and Frobenius 2013), and previous research on modes of belonging (Jones and Krzyzanowski 2008, Krzyzanowski and Wodak 2008) this paper analyses user comments posted on six YouTube sites featuring New Zealand anthems. The analysis reveals how the commenting affordances of YouTube act as sites of narrative production for both the assertion of belonging, the evaluation of others’ claims and also for the drawing of boundaries. Through this analysis of imagined communities in cyberspace, it is argued that web 2.0 spaces offer us a different way of accessing situated practices of banal nationalism and belonging, while highlighting the interface between the personal and the political in the complexities and contingencies of belonging.

Enhancing probation practice and safety with smartphone applications

2017 ◽  
Vol 64 (3) ◽  
pp. 282-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darius Fagan
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Community Corrections ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Smartphone Applications ◽  
Everyday Activities ◽  
Department Of Corrections ◽  
Day To Day Operations

As technology continues to improve and become more intertwined with our everyday activities, more and more opportunities present themselves for using technology to enhance the work that we do. This article outlines the introduction of Samsung smartphones to a large number of the Department of Corrections’ workforce, as well as giving details on two applications that are being used to improve the day-to-day operations and safety of our community corrections staff in New Zealand. In early 2014, The New Zealand Department of Corrections rolled out Samsung smartphones to over 3000 staff, to aid them with their day-to-day work operations. The idea behind providing staff with smartphones was to allow staff to use their work email and calendar on-the-go, as well as to access the internet when out of the office. The introduction of smartphones represented a marked leap forward in staff mobility and productivity.

How brand visual aesthetics foster a transnational imagined community

2019 ◽  
Vol 53 (11) ◽  
pp. 2268-2292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Buschgens ◽  
Bernardo Figueiredo ◽  
Kaleel Rahman
Keyword(s):  
Visual Analysis ◽  
Middle Eastern ◽  
Imagined Communities ◽  
Imagined Community ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Visual Aesthetics ◽  
Brand Building ◽  
Transnational Communities ◽  
Middle Eastern Art ◽  
Critical Visual Analysis

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate how visual aesthetic referents used in branding can help foster a transnational imagined community (TIC). The authors use brands embedded with Middle Eastern visual aesthetics as a research context. As such, the study aims to examine how Middle Eastern non-figurative art is used by non-Middle Eastern brands to foster an imagined Middle Easternness. Design/methodology/approach Through a critical visual analysis, the authors apply a visual social semiotic approach to Middle Eastern art canons to better understand the dimensions of transnational imagined communities. Findings The study finds and discusses six sub-dimensions of Middle Easternness, which compose two overarching dimensions of TIC, namely, temporal and spatial. These sub-dimensions provide brand managers and designers with six different ways to foster transnational imagined communities through the use of visual aesthetic referents in branding. Research limitations/implications This research identifies the specific visual sub-dimensions of brands that enable transnational communities to be imagined. Practical implications Understanding the visual aesthetic sub-dimensions in this study provides brand managers with practical tools that can help develop referents that foster transnational imagined communities in brand building to achieve competitive advantage and reach a transnational segment. Originality/value Prior studies have primarily focussed on how visual aesthetics help in understanding issues related to national identity. In contrast, this paper examines the use of visual aesthetics in branding from a transnational perspective.

New Zealand TPP approval is likely despite opposition

2016 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Free Trade Agreements ◽  
Trade Agreement ◽  
Trade Agreements ◽  
The Political ◽  
Public Concern ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Housing Boom

Significance New Zealand's main political parties are divided on TPP ratification, which marks the first such division on a trade agreement in 40 years. The main opposition Labour party has opposed the agreement on the basis of 'sovereignty' issues. The political split reflects a wider public concern than there was about past free trade agreements about the degree to which the inclusion of an investor-state dispute clause in the TPP could constrain the ability of the New Zealand government to formulate national policy. Impacts A housing boom in Auckland has fuelled construction, but the rebuild of earthquake-devastated Christchurch has peaked. Early ratification of the TPP by New Zealand may expose acceptable concessions should US rejection lead to renegotiation of the pact. New Zealand's dairy sector may benefit from a 2017 price rebound should EU oversupply retract in the second half of 2016.

Firm size and the political cycle premium

2015 ◽  
Vol 41 (10) ◽  
pp. 1077-1095
Author(s):  
Chris B Malone ◽  
Hamish Anderson ◽  
Peng Cheng
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Small Firms ◽  
The Political ◽  
Firm Level ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Level Data ◽  
Political Cycle ◽  
Firm Level Data ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Political Term

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to use firm-level data to examine whether the political cycle differentially relates to small vs large firms in New Zealand; a country that operates a unicameral political system has a short three-year political term and a right-of-centre stock market premium exists. Design/methodology/approach – Using firm-level data from 1972 to 2010, the authors examine monthly returns during right-of-centre National governments and left-of-centre Labour governments. The authors apply Santa Clara and Valkanov (2003) regression analysis approach to examine the political cycle impact on firm returns. Findings – Like in the USA, New Zealand’s political cycle premium is driven by small firms; however, the results are opposite. In New Zealand, periods governed by the right of the political spectrum produce significantly higher stock returns than those from the left and this finding is primarily driven by small firms who perform particularly poorly under left-of-centre governments. Research limitations/implications – Small firms were relatively heavily affected by the move to an open, deregulated economy; they were also less able to cope with tight monetary conditions, and periods of sharply falling inflation. New Zealand’s three-year political term may encourage newly formed governments to implement relatively fast moving shifts in policy where a more reasoned and steady approach would be warranted. Originality/value – This is the first paper to use firm-level data outside of the USA to examine the political cycle impact.

scholarly journals How did Public Buildings and Monuments Contribute to the Evolution of Agora to Forum during the Early Roman Period in Athens?

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-8
Author(s):  
Han Xiao
Keyword(s):  
Roman Empire ◽  
Political Culture ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Roman Period ◽  
The Political ◽  
Dynamic Evolution ◽  
Public Buildings ◽  
Research Environment ◽  
New Public ◽  
Roman Forum

This article uses Athens in the early Roman Empire, the province of Achaia, and the political culture behind it as a research environment. Then focuses on two public spaces in Athens: Classic Agora and Roman Forum, which are used as cases to research the relationships between these public spaces. Based on the dynamic evolution of public buildings, monuments, and new public spaces in Athens during that period, this article explores the reasons for this adaptation and transformation of the Forum to Agora in the Roman period. Research suggests that the construction and existence of public buildings and monuments in Athens during the Roman period may have played a major role in promoting this transition from Agora to Forum.

Rhetorical Traditions of Public Diplomacy and the Internet

2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 76-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Rolfe
Keyword(s):  
Public Opinion ◽  
Public Diplomacy ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Political Class ◽  
Woodrow Wilson ◽  
Rhetorical Tradition ◽  
New Public ◽  
The One

Summary Many calls have been made since 2001 for a ‘new public diplomacy’ of the information age that utilizes the internet to reach public opinion. They have been especially forthcoming from the Obama administration, although they have been just as popular with the political classes in the United States and elsewhere. However, such recent calls form only the latest instalment of a rhetorical tradition of public diplomacy that stretches back to Woodrow Wilson and beyond to the 1790s. There is a thematic recurrence in the rhetoric of public diplomacy, as there is in the rhetoric of democracy, and for the same reason: representative democracy has always involved a complex tension between, on the one hand, the political class of politicians and diplomats and, on the other, public opinion, which needs to be appeased since it confers legitimacy on representatives. This results in a recurring pattern of language involving suspicions of the political class, declarations of a new era of diplomacy and claims to credibility. There are hence frequent bouts of anti-politics politics and anti-diplomacy politics, sometimes utilizing a discourse of technological optimism, which politicians and diplomats attempt to assuage with similar calls for new political dawns.

Social media, online imagined communities and communication research

2014 ◽  
Vol 63 (6/7) ◽  
pp. 490-504 ◽  
Author(s):  
Androniki Kavoura
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Online Community ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
Imagined Communities ◽  
Communication Research ◽  
Imagined Community ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Information Professionals ◽  
Special Language

Purpose – This paper aims to examine social media communication that may consist of a database for online research and may create an online imagined community that follows special language symbols and shares common beliefs in a similar way to Anderson’s imagined communities. Design/methodology/approach – Well-known databases were searched in the available literature for specific keywords which were associated with the imagined community, and methodological tools such as online interviews, content analysis, archival analysis and social media. Findings – The paper discusses the use of multiple measures, such as document and archival analysis, online interviews and content analysis, which may derive from the online imagined community that social media create. Social media may in fact provide useful data that are available for research, yet are relatively understudied and not fully used in communication research, not to mention in archival services. Comparison takes place between online community’s characteristics and traditional communication research. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) and social media’s use of special language requirements may categorise discussion of these potential data, based on specific symbols, topical threads, purposeful samples and catering for longitudinal studies. Practical implications – Social media have not been fully implemented for online communication research yet. Online communication may offer significant implications for marketers, advertisers of a company or for an organisation to do research on or for their target groups. The role of libraries and information professionals can be significant in data gathering and the dissemination of such information using ICTs and renegotiating their role. Originality/value – The theoretical contribution of this paper is the examination of the creation of belonging in an online community, which may offer data that can be further examined and has all the credentials to do so, towards the enhancement of online communication research. The applications of social media to research and the use by and for information professionals and marketers may in fact contribute to the management of an online community with people sharing similar ideas. The connection of the online imagined community with social media for research has not been studied, and it would further enhance understanding from organisations or marketers.

The internet and potentialities of emancipatory change

2008 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Prem Sikka
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Public Spaces ◽  
Academic Community ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Social Relevance ◽  
Content Type

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to encourage the academic community to disseminate and communicate information and knowledge beyond the academy and engage wider audiences.Design/methodology/approachTo use new mediums of communication to inform, galvanise and infuriate audiences and possibly try to render the familiar unfamiliar or show that even the technical and complex issues have social relevance and consequences.FindingsThe two blogs reproduced in this paper sought to communicate some aspects of accounting to a wider audience. In trying to reach a wider audience and communicate inconvenient facts some purity of ideas may be diluted, but the alternative is silence and vacation of public spaces to organised interests.Originality/valueThe article reproduces real life newspaper blogs to show that communication with a wider audience is possible.

scholarly journals The determinants of corporate internet reporting in Egypt: an exploratory analysis

2017 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-60 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ahmed H. Ahmed ◽  
Bruce M. Burton ◽  
Theresa M. Dunne
Keyword(s):  
Multivariate Analysis ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Specific Content ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Political Upheaval ◽  
Use Of The Internet ◽  
Selection Of

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide exploratory evidence about the use of the internet for disclosure purposes by non-financial companies listed on the Egyptian Exchange – and influences thereon – at two points in time: 2010 and 2011. Selection of these periods permits direct investigation of the extent to which the disruption caused by the popular uprising in early 2011 impacted on practice. Design/methodology/approach The sample comprises all of the 172 non-financial listed companies at the end of 2010. A disclosure index was developed to evaluate the content of the investigated websites in 2010 and 2011. Univariate and multivariate analysis is used to examine the cross-sectional determinants of disclosure both in total and in terms of three specific content categories. Findings The study reveals that 40.7 and 42.7 per cent of the sample companies provided some form of financial information via their websites in 2010 and 2011, respectively (i.e. pre and post the Spring 2011 political revolution). The results of the multivariate analysis indicate consistency across the two years in terms of total score determinants, but some variation in the disaggregated evidence. Originality/value This study indicates that Egyptian firms have started embracing the power of the internet as a disclosure channel, but the extent of these practices is still limited, with great variations evident amongst the sampled companies in this regard. Encouragingly, the disruption caused by the political upheaval in 2011 appears not to have caused reduction in the propensity to provide online disclosures.

MULTIMEDIA ENVIROMENT OF GERMAN POLEMIC DISCOURSE

2019 ◽  
pp. 223-235
Author(s):  
Anna Udelkina
Keyword(s):  
Information Exchange ◽  
The Internet ◽  
Internet Site ◽  
Internal Dynamics ◽  
Xxth Century ◽  
User Comments ◽  
Multimedia Environment ◽  
The Media ◽  
Use Of The Internet ◽  
Main Activity

This article is devoted to the study of the multimedia environment of the polemic discourse in German media with its diverse formats of impact on the audience and the actively developing internal dynamics of texts. If at the end of the XXth century the specifics of German media were the use of the Internet site as one of the possibilities to present copies of newspapers and magazines in electronic form, today we can speak of modified, hybrid Internet versions of printed publications that do not just create websites on the Internet that duplicate their main activity, but also combines the features of the traditional press and features of the functioning of texts on the Internet. The transition from linear, monomedia broadcasting platforms to discrete, multimedia ones has a significant impact on the process of creating, designing and placing modern polemics. Texts of articles and user comments are considered in the article as tmaterialization of the polemic discourse in the media. Polemic texts are formed on the basis of intertextual structures and have a hypertext nature. The use of multimedia tools (a variety of fonts, graphics, animation, photo, video and sound) in the text of the article allows the author not only to expand the amount of information provided, but also to qualitatively supplement its content through inline inclusions tn the text, to express the meaning of information by referring to verbal and non-verbal means; to provide a visual and figurative presentation of information (graphs, charts, tables), to attract attention and influence the audience, as well as to provide readers with the opportunity to participate in information exchange.

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