Communication Dynamics in Religion and Politics

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul A. Djupe ◽  
Brian R. Calfano
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Religion And Politics ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Religious Communication ◽  
Institutional Contexts ◽  
Communication Dynamics ◽  
The Impact

In the main, the link between religious variables and political choices is wrapped up in a communicative process of exposure and adoption. Specifically, people become exposed to religious teachings and viewpoints within religious contexts, they then must determine whether and to what extent they will adopt those teachings and viewpoints as their own, and then they must adapt them to political ends. Critical to this approach is the acknowledgment that religious social and institutional contexts are rife with diversity, even within religious traditions. This diversity extends to religious adherents, congregations, and elites and means that people receive a variety of religious and political cues from religious sources across time and space. It is this variation that is critical to measure in order to understand religion’s effects on political behavior. That is, documenting the implications of religious diversity is as much a question of research design as it is a theoretical framework. This framework is flexible enough to accommodate the growing literature examining political input effects on religious output. The norms and patterns of exposure and adoption vary by the combination of the communicator and context: political communication in congregations, religious communication effects on politics in congregations, and religious communication by elites in public space. There are very few instances of political elites in religious spaces, at least in the United States. Presidents and other political elites have used religious rhetoric throughout American history in varying proportions, though how they have used it is changing in the Trump era to be much more particularistic and exclusive rather than the traditional broad and inclusive language of past presidents. A central variable moderating the impact of communication is credibility, which can be demonstrated in multiple ways, including political agreement as well as religious office, rhetorical choices, and decision-making processes. Religious elites, especially, battle against the weight of history, inattention, and misperception in their attempts to lead prophetically. As a result, religious elite influence, in the sense of changing hearts and minds, is a fraught enterprise. Naturally, we recommend adopting research designs that are appropriate for incorporating measurement on communication exposure so we can appropriately understand adoption decisions. This demands some creativity on behalf of researchers, which also drives them toward experimental work where exposure questions are built into the design and affords them a great deal of control.

scholarly journals A Relic of Communism, an Architectural Nightmare or a Determinant of the City’s Brand? Media, Political and Architectural Dispute over the Monument to the Revolutionary Act in Rzeszów (Poland)

Arts ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 8
Author(s):  
Sławomir Gawroński ◽  
Dariusz Tworzydło ◽  
Kinga Bajorek ◽  
Łukasz Bis
Keyword(s):  
Public Space ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Historical Memory ◽  
Media Discourse ◽  
Political Dimension ◽  
Social Events ◽  
The Media ◽  
Mutual Relations ◽  
The Impact

This article deals with the issues of architectural elements of public space, treated as components of art and visual communication, and at the same time determinants of the emotional aspects of political conflicts, social disputes, and media discourse. The aim of the considerations is to show, with the usage of the principles of critical analysis of media discourse, the impact of social events, political communication, and the activity of mass communicators on the perception of the monument of historical memory and the changes that take place within its public evaluation. The authors chose the method of critical analysis of the media discourse due to its compliance with the planned purpose of the analyses, thus, providing the opportunity to perform qualitative research, enabling the creation of possibly up-to-date conclusions regarding both the studied thread, and allowing the extrapolation of certain conclusions to other examples. The media material relating to the controversial Monument to the Revolutionary Act, located in the city of Rzeszów (Poland), was selected for the analysis. On this example, an attempt was made to evaluate the mutual relations between politically engaged architecture and art, and the contemporary consequences of this involvement in the social and political dimension.

Promote Nature-Based Solutions to adapt the environment to climate change – The LIFE ARTISAN project

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre-Antoine Versini ◽  
Daniel Schertzer ◽  
Mathilde Loury
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Climate Adaptation ◽  
Low Flow ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Adaptation To Climate Change ◽  
Relevant Alternatives ◽  
Institutional Contexts ◽  
Research And Education ◽  
The Impact

<p>Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) appear as some relevant alternatives to mitigate the consequences of climate change. For this reason, they are promoted for the implementation of the national plan for adaptation to climate change (PNACC) in France, in line with the Paris Agreement, the strategy of the European Union for adaptation to climate change and the French national strategy for biodiversity.</p><p>Nevertheless, this ambitious goal of democratizing NBS poses some institutional and technical challenges because many obstacles remain to their implementation. Overcoming these shortcomings is the objective of the LIFE integrated project called ARTISAN (Achieving Resiliency by Triggering Implementation of nature-based Solutions for climate Adaptation at a National scale). Coordinated by the French Biodiversity Office (OFB), its consortium regroups several local authorities, technical, research and education institutes.</p><p>For this purpose, ARTISAN is creating a framework promoting the implementation of NBS by improving scientific and technical knowledge about them, then by developing and disseminating relevant tools for project leaders (for the design, sizing, implementation and evaluation of ecosystem performance).</p><p>To demonstrate that NBS can respond to a diversity of climatic, ecological and institutional contexts, 10 pilot sites will be monitored in metropolitan and overseas France. The concerned issues are for example the reduction of urban heat island by the de-waterproofing of the public space, the limitation of the impact of cyclonic episodes on the urbanized coastline overseas by promoting the restoration of the mangrove, and the decrease of agricultural water stress during the low flow period by the hydromorphological restoration of wetlands. These pilot sites will serve to develop, improve and validate operational tools, methods and trainings devoted to practitioners.</p>

Immigrants, Migration, and Religious Economies

2011 ◽  
pp. 150-168
Author(s):  
Darren E. Sherkat
Keyword(s):  
Forced Migration ◽  
The United States ◽  
Economic Consequences ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Economics Of Religion ◽  
Immigration Laws ◽  
Political Conflicts ◽  
Religious Economies ◽  
And Migration ◽  
The Impact

Over the twentieth century, Western democracies began to adopt more inclusive immigration laws, which enabled people from diverse nations to move to Europe and North America. Not surprisingly, many of these immigrants carried with them religious traditions not commonly found in their new homelands. Yet immigration also has a more elemental relationship with religion, because religion often contributes to political conflicts that lead to forced migration, and religious oppression frequently motivates religious minorities to seek more accepting cultural environments. Research in the economics of religion often draws on the impact of immigrants on religious markets and the impact of religious markets on immigrants' religious practices. This article reviews studies on the connections between religion and migration, and discusses how these are related to economic theories of religious and cultural behaviors and institutions. It presents findings from the United States detailing how migration impacts religious markets, how religious factors structure migration, and some economic consequences of religious commitments among immigrants.

Imperialism, Mission, and Global Power Relations in East Asian Religions in the United States

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Connie A. Shemo
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
East Asia ◽  
East Asian ◽  
The United States ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Asian Religions ◽  
History Of ◽  
Foreign Mission ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Mission Movement

The history of East Asian religions in the United States is inextricably intertwined with the broader history of United States–East Asian relations, and specifically with U.S. imperialism. For most Americans in the 19th and into the early 20th centuries, information about religious life in China, Japan, and Korea came largely through foreign missionaries. A few prominent missionaries were deeply involved in the translation of important texts in East Asian religions and helped promote some understanding of these traditions. The majority of missionary writings, however, condemned the existing religions in these cultures as part of their critiques of the cultures as degenerate and in need of Christianity. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when the women’s foreign mission movement was the largest women’s movement in the United States, women missionaries’ representations of East Asian religions as inherent in the oppression of women particularly reached a large audience. There was also fascination with East Asian religions in the United States, especially as the 20th century progressed, and more translations appeared from people not connected to the foreign mission movement. By the 1920s, as “World Friendship” became an important paradigm in the foreign missionary movement, some missionary representations of East Asian religions became more positive, reflecting and contributing to a broader trend in the United States toward a greater interest in religious traditions around the world, and coinciding with a move toward secularization. As some scholars have suggested, the interest in East Asian religions in the United States in some ways fits into the framework of “Orientalism,” to use Edward Said’s famous term, viewing religions of the “East” as an exotic alternative to religion in the West. Other scholars have suggested that looking at the reception of these religions through a framework of “Orientalism” underestimates and distorts the impact these religious traditions have had in the United States. Regardless, religious traditions from East Asia have become a part of the American religious landscape, through both the practice of people who have immigrated from East Asia or practice the religion as they have learned from family members, and converts to those religions. The numbers of identified practitioners of East Asian religions in United States, with the exception of Buddhism, a religion that originated outside of East Asia, is extremely small, and even Buddhists are less than 2 percent of the American population. At the same time, some religious traditions, such as Daoism and some variants of Buddhism (most notably Zen Buddhism), have exercised a significant impact on popular culture, even while a clear understanding of these traditions has not yet been widespread in the United States. Some understanding of Confucianism as well has recently been spread through the propagation of “Confucian” institutes in the United States. It is through these institutes that we may see the beginnings of the Chinese government exercising some influence in American universities, which, while not comparable to the impact of Christian missionaries in the development of Chinese educational institutions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, nonetheless can illuminate the growing power of China in Sino-American relations in the beginning of the 21st century. While the term “East Asian” religions is frequently used for convenience, it is important to be aware of potential pitfalls in assigning labels such as “Western” and “Eastern” to religious traditions, particularly if this involves a construction of Christianity as inherently “Western.” At a time when South Korea sends the second largest number of Christian missionaries to other countries, Christianity could theoretically be defined as an East Asian religion, in that a significant number of people in one East Asian country not only practice but actively seek to propagate the religion. Terms such as “Eastern” and “Western” to define religious traditions are cultural constructs in and of themselves.

Latinos/as and Religious Identities in the Twentieth Century

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arlene M. Sanchez-Walsh
Keyword(s):  
Religious Identity ◽  
Generational Differences ◽  
Mexican Americans ◽  
The United States ◽  
Central American ◽  
Religious Identities ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Central American Immigrants ◽  
Cuban Americans ◽  
The Impact

This chapter explores the complex melding of traditions that make up contemporary religious identities among Latinos/as in the United States. Although Latinos/as are largely still Catholic, Protestantism is a growing presence. Examining various Latino/a groups by nationalities (such as Mexican Americans and Cuban Americans), geographic regions (such as Caribbean or Central American immigrants), and religious traditions (Catholics, Protestants, Jews, and Muslims), it becomes evident that transnational links have shaped, maintained, and propelled religious life for over a century. Transnationalism does not alter religious identities evenly. Some Latino/a groups maintain stronger ties for longer times; for others, the rates of acculturation mean that there are generational differences that affect one’s religious identity. The chapter concludes with a look at the impact of the “nones” among American Latinos/as.

Symposium Introduction: The Politics of Religious Alliances

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 227-233
Author(s):  
Ursula Hackett ◽  
David E. Campbell
Keyword(s):  
Policy Development ◽  
Religion And Politics ◽  
The United States ◽  
Original Research ◽  
Religious Leaders ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
Credit Expansion ◽  
Oxford University ◽  
Party Activists ◽  
The Impact

This symposium examines the politics of religious alliances. While the literature on religion and politics generally focuses on differences across individuals, congregations, denominations, or traditions, these articles instead ask how, when, and why religious groups do — and do not — form alliances with other organizations, both religious and secular. Specifically, this collection of original research examines the formation of multi-denominational coalitions among party activists, litigants, and religious leaders. These varied articles arose from a workshop at Oxford University in March 2015, an event hosted and funded by the Rothermere American Institute. The collection explores the impact of religious coalitional activity upon political attitudes, decision-making, and public policy development. It is wide-ranging, extending our understanding of religious coalitional activity beyond the United States and dealing with topics of vital current significance, including the swiftly changing landscape of school voucher and tax credit expansion, same-sex marriage, healthcare, and abortion advocacy.

Social Network Influence on Political Behavior in Religious Contexts

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Ladam ◽  
Ian Shapiro ◽  
Anand Sokhey
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Religion And Politics ◽  
The United States ◽  
Voluntary Association ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Psychological Constructs ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Organizational Experience ◽  
Social Network Influence ◽  
Nationally Representative

As the most common form of voluntary association in America, houses of worship remain an unquestionably critical component of American civil society. Major approaches to studying religion and politics in the United States are described, and the authors present an argument for focusing more attention on the organizational experience provided by religious contexts: studying how individuals’ social networks intersect with their associational involvements (i.e., studying religion from a “interpersonal” perspective) may actually shed new light on intrapersonal, psychological constructs like identity and religiosity. Evidence is presented from two nationally representative data sets that suggests considerable variance in the degree to which individuals’ core social networks overlap with their houses of worship. This variance exists within and between individuals identifying with major religious traditions, and such networks are not characterized solely by agreement (as theories of self-selection might suggest).

Walking Raddy

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karen Trahan Leathem
Keyword(s):  
Black Women ◽  
Public Space ◽  
New Orleans ◽  
Personal Narratives ◽  
The United States ◽  
Social Citizenship ◽  
Mardi Gras ◽  
Jim Crow Era ◽  
Cultural Performances ◽  
The Impact

Since 2004, the Baby Doll Mardi Gras tradition in New Orleans has gone from an obscure, almost-forgotten practice to a flourishing cultural force. The original Baby Dolls were groups of black women, and some men, in the early Jim Crow era who adopted New Orleans street-masking tradition as a unique form of fun and self-expression against a backdrop of racial discrimination. Wearing short dresses, bloomers, bonnets, and garters with money tucked tight, they strutted, sang ribald songs, chanted, and danced on Mardi Gras Day and on St. Joseph feast night. Today’s Baby Dolls continue the tradition of one of the first street women's masking and marching groups in the United States. They joyfully and unabashedly defy gender roles, claiming public space and proclaiming through their performance their right to social citizenship. Essayists draw on interviews, theoretical perspectives, archival material, and historical assessments to describe women’s cultural performances that take place on the streets of New Orleans. They recount the history and contemporary resurgence of the Baby Dolls while delving into the larger cultural meaning of the phenomenon. Over 140 color photographs and personal narratives of immersive experiences provide passionate testimony of the impact of the Baby Dolls on their audiences. Fifteen artists offer statements regarding their work documenting and inspired by the tradition as it stimulates their imagination to present a practice that revitalizes the spirit.

Political Communication: The Public Language of Political Elites in India and the United States.

1970 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 144
Author(s):  
George H. Gadbois ◽  
Satish K. Arora ◽  
Harold D. Lasswell
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political Communication ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Elites ◽  
Public Language ◽  
The Public
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