BDS as the baseline of solidarity: toward a model of co-struggling with Palestinians in their movement for justice and liberation

2020 ◽  
pp. 194277862097235
Author(s):  
Ramah Awad
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Community Organizing ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Dominant Strategy ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Political Prisoners ◽  
The Public ◽  
Oslo Accords ◽  
Movement Building ◽  
Taking Action

The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement has made enormous gains for the Palestine solidarity movement by raising political consciousness about Palestine, shifting the public discourse and debate, as well as making inroads into municipal and federal advocacy. BDS has popularized solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for justice and self-determination by offering a means of taking action through a coherent set of tactics and demands and by articulating the movement in universally understood framework of human rights and international law. Whereas BDS has been the dominant strategy for supporting the Palestinian struggle for justice and liberation, it is one method of solidarity among others aimed at growing the abilities of Palestinians to be their own protagonists in the fight for their rights, national aspirations, and return to their homeland. This article argues that to address the conditions subduing Palestinian self-organizing, BDS efforts must be paralleled by additional strategies to bolster Palestinian movement-building and restore broad, participatory Palestinian leadership. Drawing from these experiences and the multiple spaces grappling with this question, the author offers four key ways that Palestine solidarity efforts can further shift from a model of solidarity to a model of co-struggling with Palestinians globally. In doing so, advocates for Palestinian freedoms can more effectively link anti-colonial modes of resistance—those intended to apply pressure to and weaken the colonial regime—with a decolonial praxis that enables Palestinians to cultivate their own methods toward rebuilding their society. Building on BDS as the baseline for solidarity, the author argues that solidarity activists can further strengthen the Palestinian liberation movement by working to reverse the conditions imposed by the Oslo Accords through understanding and confronting Zionism; centering Palestinian political prisoners and refugees in our work; endorsing alternative and independent funding models; and supporting Palestinian community organizing.

Princes’ Justifications of War in Early Modern Europe: The Constitution of an International Community by Communication

2021 ◽  
pp. 65-80
Author(s):  
Anuschka Tischer
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
International Law ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
International Order ◽  
The Political ◽  
Early Modern Europe ◽  
Power Politics ◽  
Early Modernity ◽  
The Public ◽  
Modern Europe

Anuschka Tischer starts out with the historical analyses of the book by elaborating the dialectic of war discourses and international order in early modernity: according to Tischer, nearly every prince in early modern Europe came up with a ‘just reason’ when going to war. Whereas the theory of international law represented academic opinions, the political justifications offered the official view which fed into the public discourse. By referring to a general international law in their war declarations (and counter-declarations), the belligerent parties shaped the pattern of today’s modern international law. However, the early modern justifications represented the political and social values of pre-revolutionary Europe. While international law was regarded as universal, the European Christian powers distinguished between wars in and outside of Europe. The chapter reveals the contradictions inherent in this distinction by analysing how princes in early modern Europe justified their wars, which norms and orders were accepted, and how far international law was the result of elaborate discussions and power politics. Tischer’s findings are picked up by Hendrik Simon in his contribution on the nineteenth-century discourse of war and international order.

scholarly journals To The Question of the Right of Indigenous Peoples to Self-Determination and Its Interpretation in International Law

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 5127-5129
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Indigenous Peoples ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Government Officials ◽  
The Public ◽  
Wide Circle ◽  
New Interpretation ◽  
The Right

It is well known that the right of indigenous peoples to self-determination today, as well as in the past, continues to be one of the most complex and difficult to solve issues for both national and international law as a whole. It certainly arouses great interest in itself and attracts attention from a wide circle of the public, excites the minds, and at the same time engenders the broadest discussions. Those discussions often provoke an aggravation of the already not benevolent relationship between indigenous peoples and government officials in their countries of residence. Along with this, those relationships continue to be defined and considered by most indigenous peoples of the world as the “foundation” on which their rights rest, as well as their survival and preservation as separate and independent peoples. Given this circumstance, the team of authors of this paper made an attempt to consider this controversial issue from a somewhat alternative point of view in relation to traditional concepts of self-determination of peoples, namely, from the standpoint of human rights and development policy. Thus, the authors bring a new interpretation to the discussion and study of this issue, which needs to be specified and defined.

scholarly journals МИГРАНТИ, АЗИЛАНТИ, ИЗБЕГЛИЦЕ: ОДРЕЂЕЊЕ И РАЗГРАНИЧЕЊЕ ОСНОВНИХ ПОЈМОВА И ИМПЛИКАЦИЈЕ НА ПРАВНИ СТАТУС ЛИЦА И НИВО ЊИХОВЕ ЗАШТИТЕ

TEME ◽  
2017 ◽  
pp. 001
Author(s):  
Слободан Ћопић ◽  
Сања Ћопић
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Legal Basis ◽  
Demarcation Line ◽  
The Public ◽  
Irregular Migrants ◽  
Migration Crisis

In the context of the current migration crisis, in the public discourse and media reporting, different terms are used interchangeably to denote persons who are coming to Serbia from the states and the regions which "produce refugees": irregular migrants, immigrants, migrants, refugees, asylum seekers. The paper aims at providing distinctions between core terms: migrant, refugee and asylum seeker and to point out that, although it is not easy to draw demarcation line between these terms, they do not have the same meaning. These terms define essentially different (legal) status, which determines the treatment of these categories of people, the corpus of rights they are entitled to according to the regulations of the international law and national legislations, as well as the responsibilities and obligations of the states on whose territory they reside or transit. Additionally, the paper aims at analysing in which way legal status of these categories of migrants is regulated in Serbia, in order to notice if it is in compliance with the international standards and if it provides appropriate legal basis for the treatment and protection of the mentioned categories.

Suicidal Ideation and Self-Determination in Institutionalized Elderly

Crisis ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrée Fortin ◽  
Sylvie Lapierre ◽  
Jacques Baillargeon ◽  
Réal Labelle ◽  
Micheline Dubé ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Self Determination ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
Elderly Persons ◽  
Rational Suicide ◽  
Institutionalized Elderly ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Social Subscale ◽  
Civil Status ◽  
The Right ◽  
Taking Action

The right to self-determination is central to the current debate on rational suicide in old age. The goal of this exploratory study was to assess the presence of self-determination in suicidal institutionalized elderly persons. Eleven elderly persons with serious suicidal ideations were matched according to age, sex, and civil status with 11 nonsuicidal persons. The results indicated that suicidal persons did not differ from nonsuicidal persons in level of self-determination. There was, however, a significant difference between groups on the social subscale. Suicidal elderly persons did not seem to take others into account when making a decision or taking action. The results are discussed from a suicide-prevention perspective.

Discursive construction of an anti-immigration Europe by a Sweden Democrat in the European Parliament

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 429-439
Author(s):  
Kamber Güler
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Direct Democracy ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Social Power ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Critical Discourse ◽  
Discursive Construction ◽  
Cognitive Approach ◽  
The Public ◽  
Political Group

Discourses are mostly used by the elites as a means of controlling public discourse and hence, the public mind. In this way, they try to legitimate their ideology, values and norms in the society, which may result in social power abuse, dominance or inequality. The role of a critical discourse analyst is to understand and expose such abuses and inequalities. To this end, this paper is aimed at understanding and exposing the discursive construction of an anti-immigration Europe by the elites in the European Parliament (EP), through the example of Kristina Winberg, a member of the Sweden Democrats political party in Sweden and the political group of Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy in the EP. In the theoretical and methodological framework, the premises and strategies of van Dijk’s socio-cognitive approach of critical discourse analysis make it possible to achieve the aim of the paper.

Self-Determination and Territorial Integrity: Southern Cameroons and the Republic of Cameroun

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 629-653
Author(s):  
Valerie Muguoh Chiatoh
Keyword(s):  
International Law ◽  
Armed Conflict ◽  
Third World ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Territorial Integrity ◽  
Present Issue ◽  
The Republic ◽  
The Relationship

African states and institutions believe that the principle of territorial integrity is applicable to sub-state groups and limits their right to self-determination, contrary to international law. The Anglophone Problem in Cameroon has been an ever-present issue of social, political and economic debates in the country, albeit most times in undertones. This changed as the problem metamorphosed into an otherwise preventable devastating armed conflict with external self-determination having become very popular among the Anglophone People. This situation brings to light the drawbacks of irregular decolonisation, third world colonialism and especially the relationship between self-determination and territorial integrity in Africa.

On Waxen Wings: Challenges to the Public Sphere in the Network Age

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Francoeur
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
The Internet ◽  
The Public ◽  
Digital Space ◽  
Multiple Viewpoints ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Economic Production ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Communicative Space

There is a tendency, particularly among Western pundits and technologists, to examine the Internet in almost universally positive terms; this is most evident in any discussion of the medium’s capacity for democratization. While the Internet has produced many great things for society in terms of cultural and economic production, some consideration must be given to the implications that such a revolutionary medium holds for the public sphere. By creating a communicative space that essentially grants everyone his or her own microphone, the Internet is fragmenting public discourse due to the proliferation of opinions and messages and the removal of traditional gatekeepers of information. More significantly, because of the structural qualities of the Internet, users no longer have to expose themselves to opinions and viewpoints that fall outside their own preconceived notions. This limits the robustness of the public sphere by limiting the healthy debate that can only occur when exposed to multiple viewpoints. Ultimately, the Internet is not going anywhere, so it is important to equip the public with the tools and knowledge to be able to navigate the digital space. 

COVID-19 and the politicisation of medical preprints on Twitter: Quantitative Analysis of Social Media Data (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Urman ◽  
Stefania Ionescu ◽  
David Garcia ◽  
Anikó Hannák
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Direct Effect ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
The Public ◽  
Media Companies ◽  
Preventative Measures ◽  
Twitter Users ◽  
New Research ◽  
Sharing Patterns ◽  
Political Divide

BACKGROUND Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists have been willing to share their results quickly to speed up the development of potential treatments and/or a vaccine. At the same time, traditional peer-review-based publication systems are not always able to process new research promptly. This has contributed to a surge in the number of medical preprints published since January 2020. In the absence of a vaccine, preventative measures such as social distancing are most helpful in slowing the spread of COVID-19. Their effectiveness can be undermined if the public does not comply with them. Hence, public discourse can have a direct effect on the progression of the pandemic. Research shows that social media discussions on COVID-19 are driven mainly by the findings from preprints, not peer-reviewed papers, highlighting the need to examine the ways medical preprints are shared and discussed online. OBJECTIVE We examine the patterns of medRxiv preprint sharing on Twitter to establish (1) whether the number of tweets linking to medRxiv increased with the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic; (2) which medical preprints were mentioned on Twitter most often; (3) whether medRxiv sharing patterns on Twitter exhibit political partisanship; (4) whether the discourse surrounding medical preprints among Twitter users has changed throughout the pandemic. METHODS The analysis is based on tweets (n=557,405) containing links to medRxriv preprint repository that were posted between the creation of the repository in June 2019 and June 2020. The study relies on a combination of statistical techniques and text analysis methods. RESULTS Since January 2020, the number of tweets linking to medRxiv has increased drastically, peaking in April 2020 with a subsequent cool-down. Before the pandemic, preprints were shared predominantly by users we identify as medical professionals and scientists. After January 2020, other users, including politically-engaged ones, have started increasingly tweeting about medRxiv. Our findings indicate a political divide in sharing patterns of the top-10 most-tweeted preprints. All of them were shared more frequently by users who describe themselves as Republicans than by users who describe themselves as Democrats. Finally, we observe a change in the discourse around medRxiv preprints. Pre-pandemic tweets linking to them were predominantly using the word “preprint”. In February 2020 “preprint” was taken over by the word “study”. Our analysis suggests this change is at least partially driven by politically-engaged users. Widely shared medical preprints can have a direct effect on the public discourse around COVID-19, which in turn can affect the societies’ willingness to comply with preventative measures. This calls for an increased responsibility when dealing with medical preprints from all parties involved: scientists, preprint repositories, media, politicians, and social media companies. CONCLUSIONS Widely shared medical preprints can have a direct effect on the public discourse around COVID-19, which in turn can affect the societies’ willingness to comply with preventative measures. This calls for an increased responsibility when dealing with medical preprints from all parties involved: scientists, preprint repositories, media, politicians, and social media companies.

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