Opening a New Lens

2020 ◽  
pp. 52-75
Author(s):  
Caty Borum Chattoo
Keyword(s):  
Public Engagement ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Media Culture ◽  
Social Critique ◽  
Grassroots Activism ◽  
Cultural Resistance ◽  
An Inconvenient Truth ◽  
Democratic Practice ◽  
Award Winning ◽  
International Good

Opening with The Murder of Emmett Till, which launched award-winning Firelight Media’s long-standing community engagement enterprise, Chapter 3 serves as the heart of the book—the theoretical and pragmatic backdrop to today’s participatory civic media culture, positioning documentaries and parallel public engagement work as forms of cultural resistance, civic imagination, and social critique. Documentaries play an active role in democratic practice through their functions as civic storytelling—as counternarratives, monitors, mobilizers, and artistic interpreters that can reveal the depth of a social issue and strengthen civil society through collaboration and partnerships. Simultaneously, grassroots activism has changed in the networked era. Examples and initiatives help bring documentary functions to life, including the international Good Pitch program, and films like Whose Streets?, When I Walk, An Inconvenient Truth, Minding the Gap, Newtown, Strong Island, Surviving R. Kelly, The Armor of Light, Unrest, and The Pushouts.

scholarly journals A Stitch in Time? Craftivism, Connection and Community in the Time of COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 327-329
Author(s):  
Nikki Sullivan
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
South Australia ◽  
Active Role ◽  
The Other ◽  
Public Events ◽  
Democratic Practice ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities

The Centre of Democracy's mission is to share stories about democracy and democratic practice in South Australia, and to motivate and support individuals and communities to play an active role in changemaking. The second of these aims was central to a public engagement project entitled Stitch & Resist which we began developing in late 2019. In March 2020, just days before we were due to launch the project, COVID-19 hit. CoD, along with the other museums run by the History Trust of South Australia, was closed, all public events were cancelled, and we suddenly started to talk about ‘pivoting’ – what it meant and what it might look like in practice. How, we wondered, could CoD remain relevant and useful during lockdown? How might we facilitate discussions around some of the issues that the pandemic and the measures introduced to ‘flatten the curve’ were bringing to the fore: housing and homelessness, isolation, wellbeing, domestic violence, racism, inequality, to mention but a few? And how might we collect around and document what will undoubtedly prove to be a historically significant moment? Stitch & Resist has become a vehicle through which we have explored and responded to these questions and the challenges and opportunities that COVID-19 has engendered.

Climate Change Communication in the Netherlands

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Art Dewulf ◽  
Daan Boezeman ◽  
Martinus Vink
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Online Communication ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
Court Case ◽  
Climate Change Communication ◽  
Change Initiatives ◽  
An Inconvenient Truth ◽  
Change Communication

Climate change communication in the Netherlands started in the 1950s, but it was not until the late 1970s that the issue earned a place on the public agenda, as an aspect of the energy problem, and in the shadow of controversy about nuclear energy. Driven largely by scientific reports and political initiatives, the first climate change wave can be observed in the period from 1987 to 1989, as part of a broader environmental consciousness wave. The Netherlands took an active role in international climate change initiatives at the time but struggled to achieve domestic emission reductions throughout the 1990s. The political turmoil in the early 2000s dominated Dutch public debate, until An Inconvenient Truth triggered the second climate change wave in 2006–2007, generating peak media attention and broad societal activity. The combination of COP15 and Climategate in late 2009 marked a turning point in Dutch climate change communication, with online communication and climate-sceptic voices gaining much more prominence. Climate change mitigation was pushed down on the societal and political agenda in the 2010s. Climate change adaptation had received much attention during the second climate change wave and had been firmly institutionalized with respect to flood defense and other water management issues. By 2015 a landmark climate change court case and the Paris Agreement at COP21 were fueling climate change communication once again.

Constitutions and Democracy in Post-National Times: A Political-Sociological Approach

2012 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 68-90 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Blokker
Keyword(s):  
The Political ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
Democratic Participation ◽  
Nation State ◽  
Social Critique ◽  
Sociological Approach ◽  
Democratic Practice ◽  
Political Form ◽  
Functionalist Approach ◽  
Constitutional Pluralism

The modern idea of the constitution is closely tied up with the political form of the nation-state, but the post-national age assists various challenges to this idea, not least due to the emergence of constitutional or quasi-constitutional regimes both beyond and below the nation-state. While a good, and steadily growing, amount of research probes the constitutional dimensions on the international and supranational levels, the domestic dimensions and related transformations, and in particular the implications of constitutional pluralism for meaningful democratic practice, seem, however, less prominent in current debate. Domestic constitutional dynamics and conflict, not least regarding democratic participation, can be fruitfully analysed through the lens of a political-sociological approach to constitutions and constitutionalism. In order to outline such an approach in one specific way, firstly, the recent (re-) emergence of constitutional sociology is discussed. Secondly, constitutional sociology is situated within a wider debate on constitutionalism and democracy. Thirdly, a sociological, ‘historical-functionalist’ approach to the analysis of constitutions is proposed, which is then related to a comparative and interpretative political sociology of constitutional discourses and political, legal, and social critique.

“Spit and Sing, My Yugoslavia”: New Partisans, social critique and Bosnian poetics of the patriotic

2010 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 265-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalibor Mišina
Keyword(s):  
Rock Music ◽  
Cultural Critique ◽  
Social Critique ◽  
New Wave ◽  
Cultural Resistance ◽  
Cultural Engagement ◽  
Rock Bands ◽  
Ultimate Objective ◽  
Radical Expression ◽  
Important Purpose

As “music of commitment,” in the period from the late 1970s to the late 1980s rock music in Yugoslavia had an important purpose of providing a popular-cultural outlet for the unique forms of socio-cultural critique that engaged with the realities and problems of Yugoslav society. The three “music movements” that embodied the new rock'n'roll spirit – New Wave, New Primitives, and New Partisans – used rock music to critique the country's “new socialist culture,” with the purpose of helping to eliminate the disconnect between the ideal and the reality of socialist Yugoslavia. This paper examines the New Partisans as the most radical expression of music of commitment through the works of its most important rock bands: Bijelo dugme, Plavi orkestar, and Merlin. The paper's argument is that the New Partisans’ socio-cultural engagement, animated by advocacy of Yugoslavism, was a counter-logic to the nationalist dissolution of a distinctly Yugoslav fabric of a socialist community in crisis. Thus, the movement's revolutionary “spirit of reconstruction” permeating its “poetics of the patriotic” was a mechanism of socio-cultural resistance to political, cultural and moral-ethical de-Yugoslavization of Yugoslav society. Its ultimate objective was to make the case that the only way into the future – if there was to be any – rested on strategic reanimation of the Partisan revolutionary past as the only viable socio-cultural foundation of the Yugoslav socialist community.

Story Movements

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caty Borum Chattoo
Keyword(s):  
Social Issue ◽  
Social Change ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Vital Role ◽  
Social Challenges ◽  
Award Winning ◽  
Civic Practice ◽  
Government Surveillance ◽  
The Military

Social-issue documentaries are art for civic imagination and social critique. Today, audiences experience documentaries that interrogate topics like sexual assault in the military (The Invisible War), the opioid crisis (Heroin(e)), racial injustice (13th), government surveillance (Citizenfour), animal captivity (Blackfish), and more. Along a continuum of social change, these intimate nonfiction films have changed national conversations, set media agendas, mobilized communities and policymakers, and provided new portals into social problems and lived experiences—accessed by expanding audiences in a transforming dual marketplace that includes mainstream entertainment outlets and grassroots venues. Against the activism backdrop of the participatory networked culture, the contemporary function of social-issue documentaries in civic practice is embodied also in parallel community engagement—the active role of civil society, communities, and individuals—that has dynamically evolved over recent decades. Story Movements: How Documentaries Empower People and Inspire Social Change explores the functions and public influence of social-issue documentary storytelling in the networked era. At the book’s core is an argument about documentary’s vital role in storytelling culture and civic practice with an impulse toward justice and equity. Intimate documentaries illuminate complex realities and stories that disrupt dominant cultural narratives and contribute new ways for publics to contemplate and engage with social challenges. Written by a documentary producer, scholar, and director of the Center for Media & Social Impact, the book features original interviews with award-winning filmmakers and field leaders to reveal the motivations and influence of some of most lauded, eye-opening stories of the evolving documentary age.

scholarly journals Creating innovative public dialogue: Teaching the scientists of tomorrow

2004 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 59-60
Author(s):  
Sheila Dargan
Keyword(s):  
Public Engagement ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Public Dialogue ◽  
Science In Society

Many scientists would like to be playing a more active role in ‘Science in Society’ activities but simply don't have the time, motivation or resources to do it. This article addresses the need for public engagement, highlights problems faced by academics in communicating their work and puts forward some potential solutions.

scholarly journals Public Engagement Events and the Management of External Stakeholders: Artifacts as Boundary Objects or Tools of Discipline and Control?

2020 ◽  
pp. 875697282094047
Author(s):  
Vivien Chow ◽  
Roine Leiringer
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Information Flow ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Boundary Objects ◽  
Development Projects ◽  
External Stakeholders ◽  
Form Part ◽  
Material Artifacts ◽  
And Control

Public engagement is founded on idealistic principles of democratic decision making and public stewardship. Yet, the logistical realities of managing these processes are fraught with difficulties. In this article, we explore the ways in which material artifacts are used in formal public engagement proceedings on urban development projects in Hong Kong. The findings show that material artifacts used—in addition to serving as boundary objects that facilitate communication across knowledge boundaries—form part of a network that directs, controls, and manages the information flow among participants. These artifacts thus play an active role in managing the divergent interests of external stakeholders on projects.

scholarly journals The Self-Driving Car: A Media Machine for Posthumans?

Artnodes ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erkki Huhtamo
Keyword(s):  
Autonomous Vehicles ◽  
Active Role ◽  
The Self ◽  
Media Culture ◽  
Steering Wheel ◽  
Data Networks ◽  
Automated Highways ◽  
Car Culture ◽  
Multiple Levels ◽  
Self Driving Cars

This article discusses the self-driving car as a media machine, thinking about its character and broader implications from media archaeological and posthumanist perspectives. Self-driving or autonomous vehicles challenge traditional ideas about agency. Car culture has usually been considered human-centered. While there have been concerns about the “human factor” and the consequences of poor and distracted driving, the human behind the steering wheel has also been considered a guarantee of safety. The introduction of the self-driving car displaces the human from an active role as an agent and introduces forms of material agency as a replacement. This shift has huge consequences, which will be explored from various perspectives. The study will also situate the self-driving car historically within plans about automated highways, also discussing their discursive manifestations within popular media culture. The study introduces the idea of “traffic dispositive”, which it applies on multiple levels. One of the basic points underlying the discussion is that the autonomous car can never be fully autonomous. It is linked with data networks and other frameworks of factors that affect its uses and also its potential passengers. We must ask: How will the potential adoption of self-driving cars affect the human/posthuman relationship?

scholarly journals Public engagement with research: Citizens’ views on motivations, barriers and support

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marion Dreyer ◽  
Hannah Kosow ◽  
Anja Bauer ◽  
Blagovesta Chonkova ◽  
Ventseslav Kozarev ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Innovation Process ◽  
Active Role ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Research And Innovation ◽  
Innovative Methodology ◽  
Societal Actors ◽  
Quasi Experimental

Responsible research and innovation (RRI) approaches that have emerged in the past ten years point to the importance of engaging the public in dialogues about research. The different variants of RRI share the notion that societal actors, including citizens, need to work together – that is, engage in two-way communication during the research and innovation process – in order to better align both the process and its outcomes with the values, needs and expectations of society. Yet, sponsors and organizers of dialogues about research often face difficulties in recruiting sufficient numbers of participants or ensuring a sufficient level of diversity of participants. This paper asks what motivates or hinders individual citizens as members of the broader public to participate in such dialogues. It presents empirical findings of the European Union-funded project Promoting Societal Engagement Under the Terms of RRI (PROSO), which aimed to foster public engagement with research for RRI. PROSO used a quasi-experimental, qualitative approach directly involving citizens to address this question. The core of the innovative methodology were focus group discussions with European citizens about hypothetical opportunities to take part in dialogues about research. Three hypothetical scenarios of different dialogue formats (varied by whether they seek to inform the participants, consult or enable deeper collaboration on a scientific issue) were used as stimuli to explore the participants’ willingness (motivations and perceived barriers) to engage with scientific research. Our findings show a preference towards dialogue formats that give citizens a more active role and a greater say in research policy or research funding. They further suggest that those who seek to broaden citizen participation in dialogues about research should consider the role of relevance, impact, trust, legitimacy, knowledge, and time and resources as factors that can motivate or discourage citizens to take part. Based on our findings, we discuss possibilities to promote citizen participation in dialogues about research as part of putting RRI into practice.

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