“Ma, There’s a Helicopter on the Pitch!” Sport, Leisure, and the State in Northern Ireland

1992 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 154-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Sugden ◽  
Alan Bairner
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
The Political ◽  
Cultural Traditions ◽  
Social Divisions ◽  
Political Analysis ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Close Relationship

The political crisis in Northern Ireland has been met with a wide range of responses from the British state. Apart from a manifest increase in its coercive powers, in an attempt to maintain hegemonic supremacy there have been state sponsored initiatives directed toward penetrating and influencing various aspects of the Province’s popular culture. Because of the close relationship between sport, leisure, and the separate cultural traditions that underpin the political conflict, this area of popular culture has proven to be highly contested terrain. While traditional Marxist approaches to the study of superstructural formations have been greatly enhanced by the application of categories drawn from Gramsci’s political analysis, the Northern Ireland case reveals that Gramsci’s distinction between political and civil society is only useful so long as its application is flexible enough to accommodate the widest possible range of social divisions.

Introduction

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ira Dworkin
Keyword(s):  
African American ◽  
Popular Culture ◽  
The Political ◽  
James Weldon Johnson ◽  
Career Trajectory ◽  
American Popular Culture ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Love Song ◽  
Political Activist ◽  
Transnational Engagement

This introduction uses the popular James Weldon Johnson and J. Rosamond Johnson song “Congo Love Song” to consider the way that African American popular culture—in this instance a wildly successful vaudeville song—were integral parts of a larger culture of African American transnational engagement with the Congo. The song was written and first performed in 1903 at the height of an African American campaign against King Leopold II of Belgium’s colonial regime. The political significance of the song is further highlighted by the career of James Weldon Johnson, who was not only a songwriter, but also a novelist, journalist, lawyer, educator, diplomat, and political activist with the NAACP. His longer career trajectory points to the ways that the Congo is deeply embedded with a wide range of African American cultural and political engagements.

The Blogosphere in the “Land of Smiles”

2013 ◽  
pp. 976-992
Author(s):  
Melissa Wall ◽  
Treepon Kirdnark
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Political Instability ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
Turn Of The Century ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
The Political ◽  
Peak Period ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Political Processes

Since the turn of the century, Thailand, dubbed as the “Land of Smiles,” has been racked by internal political instability, turmoil, and violence. This study assesses how an ongoing political crisis in Thailand is deconstructed via blogs. A qualitative content analysis of 45 blogs (838 posts) about Thailand indicates that during a peak period of massive anti-government protests in the spring of 2010, blog posts about the crisis tended to fall under three categories: (a) creating a partisan view of the political conflict, which largely mirrored the dominant discourses already present in mainstream media; (b) presenting a dispassionate account that often provided a synthesis of different viewpoints; or (c) offering improvised accounts of what expatriate-tourist bloggers perceived to be important yet having little context to explain. It is argued that although blogging potentially offers new spaces for representing political perspectives in and about Thailand, these perspectives do not always enhance the public’s understanding of the political processes and in some cases fan the flames of inflammatory rhetoric.

The Blogosphere in the “Land of Smiles”

2012 ◽  
pp. 19-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Wall ◽  
Treepon Kirdnark
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Political Instability ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
Turn Of The Century ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
The Political ◽  
Peak Period ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Political Processes

Since the turn of the century, Thailand, dubbed as the “Land of Smiles,” has been racked by internal political instability, turmoil, and violence. This study assesses how an ongoing political crisis in Thailand is deconstructed via blogs. A qualitative content analysis of 45 blogs (838 posts) about Thailand indicates that during a peak period of massive anti-government protests in the spring of 2010, blog posts about the crisis tended to fall under three categories: (a) creating a partisan view of the political conflict, which largely mirrored the dominant discourses already present in mainstream media; (b) presenting a dispassionate account that often provided a synthesis of different viewpoints; or (c) offering improvised accounts of what expatriate-tourist bloggers perceived to be important yet having little context to explain. It is argued that although blogging potentially offers new spaces for representing political perspectives in and about Thailand, these perspectives do not always enhance the public’s understanding of the political processes and in some cases fan the flames of inflammatory rhetoric.

scholarly journals Memory, place and gender: Armagh Stories: Voices from the Gaol

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 677-690
Author(s):  
Cahal McLaughlin
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Documentary Film ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
The Political ◽  
Prison Staff ◽  
Female Prisoners ◽  
The Troubles ◽  
And Gender

The film Armagh Stories: Voices from the Gaol (2015)1 is a documentary film edited from the Prisons Memory Archive2 and offers perspectives from those who passed through Armagh Gaol, which housed mostly female prisoners during the political conflict in and about Northern Ireland, known as the Troubles. Armagh Stories is an attempt to represent the experiences of prison staff, prisoners, tutors, a solicitor, chaplain and doctor in ways that are ethically inclusive and aesthetically relevant. By reflecting on the practice of participatory storytelling and its reception in a society transitioning out of violence, I investigate how memory, place and gender combine to suggest ways of addressing the legacy of a conflicted past in a contested present.

scholarly journals Unnoticed Coup D’état

2021 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-97
Author(s):  
Mikhail S. Belousov ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Family Law ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
The Political ◽  
Central Question ◽  
Coup D'etat ◽  
Separate Family ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
History Of

The article is devoted to the history of the emergence and development of the political crisis of the Interregnum. The central question of the article is examination of the reason why Nikolai, having received news of the death of Alexander, decided to swear allegiance to Konstantin. An analysis of historiography demonstrates that the most diametrical interpretations of this event are presented in the literature: Nikolai acted under pressure from M. A. Miloradovich and/or Maria Fedorovna, together with the Governor-General and/or Empress Mother. An important aspect of the work is the study of the normative component of the problem of succession. It is shown that by November 1825 a contradictory situation had developed: by law the heir was Konstantin, by family agreement — Nikolai. The article justifiably proves that the Manifesto of Alexander I on the transfer of the throne of Nicholas was a model of separate family law and was never supposed to be published. On the basis of a wide range of sources, the article reconstructs the course of meetings on November 25, describes the features of taking the oath on November 27, and reveals the development of the dynastic crisis arising from them. It is demonstrated that Nicholas had a complex plan to seize power, which implied unification with representatives of the generals and the highest bureaucracy, an oath in favor of Konstantin in violation of the established tradition, pressure on his older brother and, ultimately, the proclamation of emperor. The article presents the question of rumors spread in St. Petersburg society related to the secession of Poland and the hypothetical murder of Constantine.

Fascism and Dependency in Latin America in the Thinking of Theotônio dos Santos

2021 ◽  
pp. 0094582X2110591
Author(s):  
Maíra Machado Bichir
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Latin American ◽  
Marxist Theory ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
1960S And 1970S ◽  
America Latina

The analysis of Theotônio dos Santos, a central reference of the Marxist theory of dependency, of the counterrevolutionary political processes in Latin America in the 1960s and 1970s, reflecting what he observes as an advance of fascistization, proposes the concept of a dependent fascism to characterize some of the military governments that materialized in the region. His writings on the subject are part of a wide range of debates that took place in Latin America during the 1970s, which focused on the context of political radicalization between revolution and counterrevolution, a tug-of-war that led to a consolidation of military coups. These writings express his position on both the political crisis that took place in Latin American countries at that time and the transformations of the political regime and the state itself. Efforts to renew these debates are anchored in the expectation that they may shed light on recent Latin American history. A análise de Theotônio dos Santos, referência central da teoria Marxista da dependência, sobre os processos políticos contrarrevolucionários na América Latina nas décadas de 1960 e 1970, ao observar um avanço da fascistização, propõe o conceito de fascismo dependente para caracterizar alguns dos governos militares que se concretizaram na região. Seus escritos sobre o tema se inscrevem em um amplo campo de debates que tiveram lugar na América Latina durante a década de 1970, os quais se debruçavam sobre o contexto de radicalização política entre revolução e contrarrevolução, no qual a consolidação de golpes militares estava imersa, e expressam o posicionamento do autor em relação tanto à crise política que teve lugar nos países latino-americanos naquele então, quanto às transformações do próprio regime político e do Estado. O esforço de recuperar tal debate está ancorado na expectativa de que tais reflexões possam lançar luz sobre a história recente latino-americana.

La Hora de la Salsa: Nicolás Maduro and the Political Dimensions of Salsa in Venezuela

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Sean Bellaviti
Keyword(s):  
Popular Culture ◽  
Political Power ◽  
Political Crisis ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Unrest ◽  
Latin Americans ◽  
Course Of Action ◽  
Political Dimensions ◽  
Ruben Blades

Abstract In this article I examine how, during a period of extreme social unrest, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro took up the role of a salsa radio deejay as a show of confidence in his hold on political power and of his solidarity with ordinary Venezuelans. I argue that this all but unprecedented and, for many, controversial course of action by a sitting president provides us with an unusual opportunity to analyse Venezuela's long-standing political crisis. In particular, I highlight how Maduro harnessed salsa's long association with poor Latin Americans, its connection to Venezuela and its pleasurable character to bolster his socialist credentials, and I show how this strategy unleashed a public exchange of criticisms with one legendary salsero (salsa musician), Rubén Blades. By exploring the way music intersects with politics, I show how popular culture is neither ancillary to nor derivative of the country's ever-deepening strife but, rather, constitutive of it.

Pioneers and politics: Open University journeys in Long Kesh during the years of conflict 1972–75

2019 ◽  
pp. 33-46
Author(s):  
Philip O’Sullivan ◽  
Gabi Kent
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Oral History ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Political Conflict ◽  
The Political ◽  
Open University ◽  
Collateral Consequences ◽  
Prison Camp

This chapter uses the voices from an Open University oral history project, Time to Think, to tell the extraordinary story of developing teaching and learning in a prison camp outside Belfast. As the political conflict in Northern Ireland gathered pace in the early 1970s, the newly established Open University was drawn into the collateral consequences in ways that were to prove both unpredictably fruitful and historically providential.

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