Voluntary simplifiers as political consumers: Individuals practicing politics through reduced consumption

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 199-217 ◽  
Author(s):  
Einat Zamwel ◽  
Orna Sasson-Levy ◽  
Guy Ben-Porat
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Lifestyle Changes ◽  
Consumption Patterns ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Private Realm ◽  
Consumption Practices ◽  
Political Consumption

This article seeks to contribute to the discourse on the politicization of voluntary simplifiers’ consumption patterns. Some scholars argue that voluntary simplifiers’ consumption practices are individualistic and escapist in nature, and therefore cannot be defined as political, and that they are likely to become such only if they organize for collective action. Conversely, we argue that voluntary simplifiers’ lifestyle is an individual political choice that should be analyzed using theories of political consumption. This article, based on interviews with voluntary simplifiers in Israel, identifies four characteristics of voluntary simplifiers that attest to their political nature: (1) multidimensional political discourse, (2) embracement of a holistic and uncompromising lifestyle of simplicity, (3) lifestyle changes as ongoing political process, and (4) the desire to exert influence. We therefore argue that voluntary simplifiers are not only political, but they represent a clear-cut instance of noninstitutionalized political activity realized through individual practices in the private realm.

scholarly journals Are You Connected Through Consumption? The Role of Hashtags in Political Consumption

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 205630511988342 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivia Johnson ◽  
Adrienne Hall-Phillips ◽  
Te-Lin (Doreen) Chung ◽  
Hyojung Cho
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
National Football League ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Consumerism ◽  
Impact Theory ◽  
Consumption Practices ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
Political Consumption

The debate surrounding protesting National Football League (NFL) games began with player Colin Kaepernick’s decision not to stand for the national anthem in response to increased police violence toward people of color in the United States. Public use of social media has cast players’ behavior of kneeling or sitting during the anthem into an international spotlight and led to individuals’ participation in political consumerism, including boycotting the NFL. The goal of this research is to examine the role of a hashtag in political consumerism through the lens of social impact theory and its relation to individuals’ consumption practices. Using social network and content analysis, this study examined a 4-day sample of tweets and accompanying hashtags that included #BoycottNFL during 9 days of the 2017 NFL season. Findings of this study suggest that the line between lifestyle and contentious political consumerism is blurred. Boycotting the NFL is contentious political consumerism, but it consists of lifestyle political consumerism through the individualized behavior of creating a tweet, which inadvertently is a part of collective action. Furthermore, the analysis indicated that accompanying hashtags demonstrated three types of political consumerism sentiment (i.e., political-, civic-, and consumption-related) that change the tone of a tweet, which may alienate actors who are focused on the consumption practices of the collective action. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Political Translation and the Sustainable Development Goals

2020 ◽  
pp. 169-188
Author(s):  
Chris G. Pope ◽  
Meng Ji ◽  
Xuemei Bai
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Sustainable Development Goals ◽  
Social Systems ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
The World ◽  
Development Goals

The chapter argues that whether or not the world is successful in attaining sustainability, political systems are in a process of epoch-defining change as a result of the unsustainable demands of our social systems. This chapter theorizes a framework for analyzing the political “translation” of sustainability norms within national polities. Translation, in this sense, denotes the political reinterpretation of sustainable development as well as the national capacities and contexts which impact how sustainability agendas can be instrumentalized. This requires an examination into the political architecture of a national polity, the norms that inform a political process, socioecological contexts, the main communicative channels involved in the dissemination of political discourse and other key structures and agencies, and the kinds of approaches toward sustainability that inform the political process. This framework aims to draw attention to the ways in which global economic, political, and social systems are adapting and transforming as a result of unsustainability and to further understanding of the effectiveness of globally diffused sustainability norms in directing that change.

The Study of American Local Governance: A Need for More and Better ‘Backyard‘ Scholarship

1988 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 11-14
Author(s):  
Ronald J. Oakerson
Keyword(s):  
Urban Politics ◽  
Local Politics ◽  
Local Governance ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The United States ◽  
Basic Element ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
American Democracy ◽  
National Politics ◽  
State And Local

Occasional references to the old radical teaching that “all politics is local” notwithstanding, American political scientists have by and large treated the study of local politics as a subject of much lesser importance than national politics. The standard introductory course in “American democracy” has a national focus—often it is exclusively national. Briefly, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, the study of “urban politics” occupied a more prominent place in the discipline, but interest has waned. The priority concern in both teaching and research continues to be American national government and politics.This narrow focus leads to a distorted and truncated view of American democracy. Despite increased nationalization, state and local government has been and remains a basic element in the practice of American politics. The productivity and creativity of democracy in America are outcomes, not simply of a national political process, but of a complex system of governance in which local collective action provides much of the energy and initiative for addressing public problems. A vast amount of political activity in the United States is channeled through state and local institutions, where much of the work of public problem solving is done.

scholarly journals Food Consumption Patterns of Male and Female Undergraduate Students in Indonesia During New Normal Implementation of Pandemic Covid-19 Era

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (E) ◽  
pp. 278-282
Author(s):  
Kiki Kristiandi ◽  
Andi Eka Yunianto ◽  
Made Darawati ◽  
Tetty Herta Doloksaribu ◽  
Ike Anggraeni ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Food Consumption ◽  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Sampling Technique ◽  
Lifestyle Changes ◽  
Consumption Patterns ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
New Normal ◽  
Balanced Diet ◽  
Normal Period

AIM: This study aimed to analyze the description of Indonesian undergraduate students’ food consumption patterns during the COVID-19 period. METHODS: The design used was cross-sectional with random sampling technique. The correlation test was Chi-Square and analyzed using univariate. The respondents involved were 17–24 years old with 5924 persons; active undergraduate students. Questionnaires were distributed using Google form. RESULTS: The results indicated a relationship between gender and major, education level, social status, and funds source (p = 0.000). However, sex and residence did not correlate (p = 0.16). The same was revealed between gender with consumption patterns, carbohydrates, animal protein, vegetable protein, vegetables, fruit, snacks, water, and supplements. CONCLUSION: Overall, during the new normal period of pandemic COVID-19 era, student food consumption patterns could be categorized as healthier lifestyle changes. Thus, the undergraduate students are suggested to maintain a diverse and balanced diet to boost their immunity optimally.

First Contact, March–May 1864

2020 ◽  
pp. 247-270
Author(s):  
Brian Holden Reid
Keyword(s):  
Presidential Election ◽  
Political Discourse ◽  
Political Life ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Operational Level ◽  
Political Views ◽  
The Military ◽  
First Contact ◽  
First Time ◽  
The Way

This chapter details how the year 1864 allowed William T. Sherman to operate for the first time not as a subordinate commander but as director of a series of armies in the field. His contribution to overall Union strategy would be significant and thus he began to exercise command at the level military analysts currently refer to as the operational level of war. Such a level links tactics and methods of fighting with strategy, in the overall scheme. It defines the manner in which armies organize in discrete campaigns and seek to fulfill the object of strategy by winning victories. Sherman’s performance overall needs to be considered by taking all aspects into account. As he began to work at the higher levels of the military art, he began to change the way in which people think and talk about war, and he propounded an individual philosophy of war. The higher he progressed, the more Sherman could not avoid confronting the harsh realities of political life, for his campaigns increasingly had an impact not just on American political discourse but indeed in 1864 on the outcome of the presidential election. Sherman expressed clear-cut political views and expounded them perhaps too forcefully. This complex mix worked as a catalyst in developing his ideas about war and his ability to put them into practice.

A Collective-Action Perspective on the Planning of Megaprojects

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nuno Gil
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Resource Scarcity ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Organizational Slack ◽  
Performance Targets ◽  
The Core ◽  
Local Searches ◽  
Flexible Designs ◽  
Conflicting Interests ◽  
The Uk

This chapter adopts a collective action perspective to study the planning of large infrastructure developments: so-called “megaprojects.” The research is grounded on the analysis of make-or-break issues that beset four megaprojects in the UK. First it is argued that megaprojects are organizational networks that at the core create large arenas of consensus-oriented collective action. The analysis shows how the conflation of resource scarcity, conflicting interests, and concerns with legitimacy complicates local searches for mutually consensual solutions and brings to the fore bargaining and political activity. The central contribution is a model that proposes a combination of four high-order coordination mechanisms for management to carry the actors along openly: relaxing performance targets, building organizational slack, espousing flexible designs, and creating a structure of umpires to settle disputes that could not be self-resolved. Implications for the megaproject performance debate are discussed.

LEADERSHIP AS A FACTOR OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIETY: RUSSIAN AND FOREIGN RESEARCHES

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (6) ◽  
pp. 12-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Комлева ◽  
Valentina Komleva
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Political Leadership ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Leader ◽  
The Sustainable Development ◽  
Function Integration ◽  
The Individual

Events of recent years have shown the importance of the individual political leaders in choosing the ways and models of development of different societies, the ability to successful governance. The article investigates the political leadership and its role and place in the sustainable development of society, domestic and foreign theories and approaches to the study of this phenomenon are analyzed. The author discusses features, problems and trends in the study of political leadership, which is understood as the political capital of the company in most modern Western research, as a condition of its successful development; and a political leader (in terms of importance for the sustainable development of society) as a significant person of the political process, to make political decisions, exercising public political activity, function integration and consolidation of the social forces that specifies the activity of state and / or public institutions, political movements to influence policy situation. The research results suggest that the specificity of the present stage of the study of political leadership is to increase the attention of scientists to the subject of the crisis of political leadership, the needs of leaders by modern society who influence the members of society positively, develop the state effectively.

Exploring the Crisis of the Reform Movement in Iran (1997–2005)

2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 386-409
Author(s):  
SEYED AMIR NIAKOOEE
Keyword(s):  
Social Movements ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Reform Movement ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Opportunity ◽  
Framing Processes ◽  
Comprehensive Framework

AbstractThe Second Khordad Movement was a democratic social movement in contemporary Iran. Investigation of this movement revealed two images, of flourish and of decline, as the movement was first generally successful until early 2000 and thereafter began to regress from the spring of that year onwards. The purpose of this article is to provide a comprehensive framework in which to examine the reasons behind the movement's failure and regression. To this end, the study utilizes the literature on social movements, especially the political process model, and attempts to explain the initial success and subsequent decline of the movement based on elements such as political opportunity, framing processes, mobilizing structures, and the repertoire of collective action.

Franchise systems and lobbying: implications for Olsonian collective action theory

2018 ◽  
Vol 56 (11) ◽  
pp. 2357-2372
Author(s):  
Richard S. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Collective Action ◽  
Action Theory ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
System Size ◽  
Industry Structure ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Corporate Political Activity ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Political Activities

Purpose Previous research combining corporate political activity and collective action theory has focused solely on industry structure and its role in predicting group lobbying or PAC participation. The purpose of this paper is to use a different context—franchise systems—to apply Olsonian collective action theory to political activities. Design/methodology/approach Using a random-effects technique in STATA on an unbalanced panel data set, this paper empirically models the effects of franchise system size and degree of franchising on the level of lobbying intensity. Findings Since franchise systems are made up of differing unit ownership structure, the author first model if those systems that are fully franchised lobby less than those with franchisor unit ownership (supported). Next, since collective action theory predicts that more participants in a space will lead to less collective action, the author predict that franchise systems with larger unit counts will lobby less than those with smaller counts (not supported). Finally, the author test the interaction of these two effects as systems that are fully franchised and of higher unit totals should have an even greater negative relationship with political activity (supported). Originality/value This paper uses both a novel data set and a novel context to study collective action. Previous research has utilized an industry structure context to model the level of lobbying and collective action, while the current research uses an analogous logic, but in the context of franchise systems.

Gender, risk assessment, and political ambition

2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennie Sweet-Cushman
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Life History Theory ◽  
Political Process ◽  
The United States ◽  
Political Activity ◽  
Political Ambition ◽  
Environmental Pressures ◽  
Cognitive Risk ◽  
Contemporary Politics ◽  
The Right

In the United States, women have long held the right to vote and can participate fully in the political process, and yet they are underrepresented at all levels of elected office. Worldwide, men’s dominance in the realm of politics has also been the norm. To date, scholars have focused on supply-side and demand-side explanations of women’s underrepresentation but differences in how men and women assess electoral risk (the risk involved in seeking political office) are not fully explained. To fill this gap, I explore how evolutionary theory offers insights into gendered differences in political ambition and the evaluation of electoral risk. Using the framework of life-history theory, I hypothesize that both cognitive and environmental factors in human evolution, particularly as they relate to sexual selection and social roles, have shaped the psychology of ambition in gendered ways affecting contemporary politics. Cognitive risk-assessment mechanisms evolving in the hominid line came to be expressed differently in females and males, in women and men. These gendered expressions plausibly reflect differentiable environmental pressures in the past and may help explain behaviors in and barriers to women’s electoral political activity in the present. If so, then the success of efforts to increase such activity — or, regressively, to suppress it — may be better understood.

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