scholarly journals The pride of east Belfast: Glentoran Football Club and the (re)production of Ulster unionist identities in Northern Ireland

2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (8) ◽  
pp. 975-996 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Bleakney ◽  
Paul Darby
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Sense Of Belonging ◽  
Academic Work ◽  
Cultural Traditions ◽  
Football Club ◽  
Football Clubs ◽  
Majority Population ◽  
Sectarian Conflict ◽  
To Come

It has become a truism that football provides a revealing window into how various forms of identity are (re)produced. There is a not insubstantial body of academic work which illustrates that football in Northern Ireland has long served as a vehicle for individuals to come together, develop a sense of belonging, share in common bonds of loyalty and articulate both semantic and syntactical forms of identity. This certainly holds true for the country’s Ulster unionist population. Indeed, in many ways, the game has been inextricably bound up with the development of unionist politics and identities. As such, football and football clubs in Northern Ireland represent a particularly useful, yet currently under-utilised, lens through which to analyse the development and nature of the identities of the majority population and how these have manifested themselves in civil society at various points in time. Better understanding how these identities are generated and articulated is important in the context of a society emerging from almost four decades of internecine, ethno-sectarian conflict and particularly at a time when sections of the unionist community have grown disaffected at what they consider to be deliberate attempts to dilute and diminish their identity and cultural traditions. This article contributes to and expands on what is barely a fledgling scholarship on sport and Ulster unionism by examining the ways in which unionist and loyalist identities have developed through and coalesced around Glentoran Football Club, one of Northern Ireland’s leading domestic teams.

Beyond the Fife and Drum: Northern Protestant Working Class Cultures

Public Voices ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 73
Author(s):  
Paul Burgess
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Working Class ◽  
World Order ◽  
Cultural Traditions ◽  
One Dimensional ◽  
Dimensional Image ◽  
The Troubles ◽  
Meaning Systems ◽  
The World ◽  
Symbolic Systems

The author contends that throughout the duration of the present conflict in NorthernIreland, the world has been repeatedly given a one-dimensional image of this culture depicting it as mainly a product of ethnicity and also a reflection of class sentiment and lived experience.As drummer and songwriter of Ruefrex, a musical band internationally renowned for its songs about the Troubles conflict in Northern Ireland, Burgess discusses the need to express Protestant cultural traditions and identity through words and music. Citing Weber’s argument that individuals need to understand the world and their environment and that this understanding is influenced by perceptions of world order and attitudes and interpretations of symbolic systems or structures, the author argues that losing the importance of symbolic structures in relation to actual events will result in failure to understand why communities embrace meaning systems that are centrally informed by symbol and ritual. In his mind, rather than seeking to promote an understanding of Protestant or Catholic reality, it is important to speculate how the practice of difference might be used in developing any kind of reality of co-operation and co-ordination

Criminal Justice Reform in a Transitional Context: Restorative Youth Conferencing in Northern Ireland

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 549-572 ◽  
Author(s):  
David O’Mahony
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Restorative Justice ◽  
Transitional Justice ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Peace Building ◽  
Youth Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice Reform ◽  
Transitional Environment

This article examines the incorporation of restorative principles and practices within reforms of Northern Ireland’s youth justice system, adopted following the peace process. It considers whether restorative justice principles can be successfully incorporated into criminal justice reform as part of a process of transitional justice. The article argues that restorative justice principles, when brought within criminal justice, can contribute to the broader process of transitional justice and peace building, particularly in societies where the police and criminal justice system have been entwined in the conflict. In these contexts restorative justice within criminal justice can help civil society to take a stake in the administration and delivery of criminal justice, it can help break down hostility and animosity towards criminal justice and contribute to the development of social justice and civic agency, so enabling civil society to move forward in a transitional environment.

scholarly journals The third way. Humanitarian corridors in peacetime as a (local) civil society response to a EU’s common failure

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (51) ◽  
pp. 59-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Gois ◽  
Giulia Falchi
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Foreign Affairs ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Third Way ◽  
Key Issues ◽  
Durable Solutions ◽  
Forced Migrants ◽  
To Come ◽  
Multi Stakeholder

Abstract Migration has been and will continue to be one of the key issues for Europe in the coming decades. Fundamental developments such as economy, climate change, globalization of transport and communication, war and instability in the neighbouring regions, are all factors that continue to drive people to come to Europe, in search of shelter and a better life or to reunite with their families. In recent years, vulnerability of forced migrants has been exacerbated by worsening conflicts in their home country, which make repatriation less and less a viable option, and by mounting intolerance within local communities. A growing number of potential refugees attempts to escape transit countries to reach the European Union by embarking in dangerous journeys to cross the Mediterranean Sea and illegally enter the European Union. Within the European Union resettlement represents a 'durable solution' for vulnerable forced migrants alongside local integration and voluntary repatriation, a protection tool for potential people whose lives and liberty are at risk. In Italy, a group of institutions from civil society and the Italian Ministries of Foreign Affairs and of Interior signed a Protocol of Agreement for the establishment of Humanitarian Corridors to ensure the legal and safe resettlement of asylum seekers. Our article will show how these Humanitarian Corridors proved to be a successful multi-stakeholder engagement to support safe and legal pathways to protection as well as durable solutions for third country nationals in need of protection.

Kumzari: The Forgotten Language

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 27 ◽  
Author(s):  
Said Al Jahdhami
Keyword(s):  
Ethnic Groups ◽  
Academic Work ◽  
Minority Languages ◽  
Language Family ◽  
Bantu Language ◽  
To Come ◽  
Future Status

<p>Arabic is the first widely used language in Oman. It is not uncommon, however, to come across Omanis who converse in minority languages other than Arabic. Remarkably, these languages are of three different families: Indo-Iranian languages such as Kumzari, Lawati, Zadjali, Baluchi; Modern South Arabian languages such as Harsusi, Bathari, Hobyot, Mehri, and Jabbali /Shehri; and Bantu language family which includes Swahili. Named after the ethnic groups speaking them as mother tongues side by side with Arabic, the number of speakers of these languages varies as some are spoken by thousands of speakers while other languages may claim only a few hundred speakers. Academic work geared towards exploring these languages is scarce indeed, especially languages such as Kumzari, Harsusi, Zadjali, Bathari and Hobyot, a fact that makes them lesser-known and uninvestigated as opposed to their counterparts. In view of this, the focus of this paper lies on one of the lesser-known and unexplored minority languages spoken in Oman, namely Kumzari. In line with this, the study highlights the genetic affiliation of Kumzari, its speakers and their location, views on the origin of its name and its future status.</p>

scholarly journals Irish and Polish in a New Context of Diversity in Northern Ireland’s Schools

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugene Mckendry
Keyword(s):  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Language Learning ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Community Relations ◽  
Economic Downturn ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Cultural Traditions ◽  
Accession Countries

Abstract While Modern Languages are in decline generally in the United Kingdom’s post-primary schools, including in Northern Ireland (Speak to the Future 2014), the international focus on primary languages has reawakened interest in the curricular area, even after the ending in 2015 of the Northern Ireland Primary Modern Languages Programme which promoted Spanish, Irish and Polish in primary schools. This paper will consider the situation in policy and practice of Modern Languages education, and Irish in particular, in Northern Ireland’s schools. During the years of economic growth in the 1990s Ireland, North and South, changed from being a country of net emigration to be an attractive country to immigrants, only to revert to large-scale emigration with the post-2008 economic downturn. While schools in Great Britain have had a long experience of receiving pupils from diverse ethnic and linguistic backgrounds, firstly from the British Empire and Commonwealth countries, Northern Ireland did not attract many such pupils due to its weaker economic condition and the conflict of the Northern Ireland Troubles. The influx from Poland and other Accession Countries following the expansion of the European Union in 2004 led to a sudden, significant increase in non-English speaking Newcomer pupils (DENI 2017). The discussion in Northern Ireland about a diverse democracy has hitherto concentrated on the historical religious and political divide, where Unionist antipathy led to the Irish Language being dubbed the ‘Green Litmus Test’ of Community Relations (Cultural Traditions Group 1994). Nevertheless, the increasing diversity can hopefully ‘have a leavening effect on a society that has long been frozen in its “two traditions” divide’ (OFMDFM 2005a: 10). This paper will revisit the role and potential of Irish within the curricular areas of Cultural Heritage and Citizenship. An argument will also be made for the importance of language awareness, interculturalism and transferable language learning skills in Northern Ireland’s expanded linguistic environment with a particular focus on Polish.

scholarly journals STRUCTURE AND EFFICIENCY OF INVESTMENTS IN THE SPORTS INDUSTRY OF THE COUNTRIES (EXAMPLE OF THE GERMAN ECONOMY)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anastasiia Kafurina ◽  
Tetiana Rodionova
Keyword(s):  
Initial Public Offering ◽  
Stock Price ◽  
German Economy ◽  
Weighted Average ◽  
Share Price ◽  
Model Errors ◽  
Football Club ◽  
Sports Industry ◽  
Football Clubs ◽  
The World

In the last thirty years sport is turning into business and football clubs are developing into large corporations. Sports industry has been becoming not just more exciting but also highly lucrative. The value of professional football sector is estimated to be about 8 billion euros. Even more investors see sports leagues or football clubs as profitable investments. For instance, European Super League can be taken, which could have been more profitable for investors than other competitions and attracted such sponsor as JPMorgan Chase. However, in the near future such project has no support from governments and other clubs and therefore has no future yet. One type of investment in the sports industry is the purchase of shares in sports clubs. Borussia Dortmund is a German football club, one of the most successful clubs in the world, which plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German league system. Dortmund’s shares are listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. Borussia is the only club in Germany and among approximately 25 clubs in the world, including few British and Italian clubs, whose shares are publicly traded. Even more clubs are considering going public to increase its capital. One of the biggest clubs in Belgium, Brugge examined such opportunity, though the club postponed their initial public offering because of the low demand. On the contrary, Ukrainian football club Veres started selling its shares in April 2021 and during the first day have received bids for the purchase of stocks for the amount of over 36 million hryvnas. However, the benefit for the investor might be only the increase of a share price as the club does not intend to pay out dividends. The article analyses the price of a club share for more than 20 years and historical dividends. Borussia’s stock is analysed using futures contracts. It also examines such indicators as return on invested capital (ROIC), weighted average cost of capital (WACC), return on assets (ROA), which are compared with those of Manchester United, Juventus, Lazio and Ajax. A model is being built to predict the stock price during COVID-19 and before the start of the pandemic to compare price fluctuations and model errors.

scholarly journals A comparative study to identify a suitable model of ownership for Iran football pro league clubs

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-47
Author(s):  
Saeed Amirnejad ◽  
Ali Reza Elahi ◽  
Hossein Akbari Yazdi
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Study ◽  
Mixed Model ◽  
Trust Model ◽  
Suitable Model ◽  
Government Ownership ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Football Club ◽  
Partnership Model ◽  
Football Clubs ◽  
The Government

Today the government ownership of the professional football clubs is absolutely illogical view point. Most of sports clubs are conducted by private sector using different models of ownership all over the world. In Iran, government credits benefit was main reason that the professional sport was firstly developed by government firms and organizations. Therefore, the sports team ownership is without the professionalization standards. The present comparative study was to examine the different football club ownership structures of the top leagues and the current condition of Iran football pro league ownership and then present a suitable ownership structure of Iran football clubs to leave behind the government club ownership. Among the initial 120 scientific texts, the thirty two cases including papers, books and reports were found relevant to this study. We studied the ownership prominence and several football club models of ownership focused on stock listing model of ownership, private investor model of ownership, supporter trust model of ownership and Japan partnership model of ownership; theoretical concepts, empirical studies, main findings, strengths and weaknesses were covered in analysis procedure. According to various models of ownership in leagues and the models’ productivity in football clubs, each model of ownership considering national environmental, economic, social conditions has strengths and weaknesses. So, we cannot present a definite model of ownership for Iran football pro league clubs due to different micro-environments of Iran clubs. We need a big planning to provide a supporter-investor mixed model of ownership to Iranian clubs. Considering strengths and weaknesses in the models of ownership as well as the micro and macro environment of Iran football clubs, German model and Japan partnership model are offered as suitable ones to probable new model of ownership in Iran pro league clubs. Consequently, more studies are required to find a suitable model of ownership based on environmental conditions in Iran. 

Co-creation and the state in a global context

2020 ◽  
pp. 23-40
Author(s):  
Sue Brownill ◽  
Oscar Natividad Puig
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Mexico City ◽  
The South ◽  
Global Context ◽  
The World ◽  
Local Stakeholders ◽  
Global North ◽  
Global Nature ◽  
To Come ◽  
North And South

This chapter draws on debates about the need for theory to ‘see from the South’ (Watson, 2009) to critically reflect on the increasingly global nature of co-creation both as a focus for research and for initiatives from governments around the world. It explores whether current understandings of co-creation narratives, which have tended to come from the Global North, can adequately characterise and understand the experience from the South, and the resulting need to decolonise knowledge and conduct research into the diverse ways in which co-creation can be constituted. It goes on to illustrate these debates by exploring the differing contexts for co-creation created by state-civil society relations in the project’s participating countries. These show that, while distinct contrasts emerge, it is important to move beyond dichotomies of north and south to explore the spaces of participation and resistance that are created within different contexts and how these are navigated by projects and communities engaged in co-creation. The chapter draws on material from interviews with local stakeholders and academics involved in the Co-Creation project and project conferences in Rio, Mexico City and Berlin.

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