scholarly journals Conspiracy theories before and after the Greek crisis: Discursive patterns and political use of the “enemy” theme

2018 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
pp. 73
Author(s):  
Athena Skoulariki
Keyword(s):  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Social Representations ◽  
Conspiracy Theories ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Western Us ◽  
The Social ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Attribution Of Blame ◽  
Political Praxis

Conspiracy theories have been associated to a paranoid way of thinking; however they are not always marginal and utterly irrational. Conspiracist narratives reflect rival strategies of interpretation, and can have a real impact on the social and political praxis. More than factual accuracy, I suggest that what distinguishes a conspiracy theory is a type of discourse, its key features being: suspicion, intentionality, personification, speculation and denunciation.This paper examines conspiracy theories that dominated Greek public discourse before and after the economic crisis of the years 2010s, particularly those introduced by political actors as a means of political persuasion and mobilisation. Greek political culture and the discredit of the political system since 2010 led to frequent expressions of distrust towards political elites and foreign “powers”. My analysis focuses on the acceptability of conspiracy theories in relation with social representations, dominant stereotypes and widely shared interpretative schemata.The following cases of conspiracy theories are discussed: a) the wildfires that ravaged large parts of Greece in 2007, supposedly set by “foreign agents”; b) the alleged assassination plot in 2008-2009 against the PM Karamanlis by Western / US secret services; c) the conspiracy theories attributing the economic crisis to a deliberate foreign plot against Greece. The paper examines in particular the attribution of blame to presumed “enemies”, in line with nationalist discursive themes and stereotypes.

scholarly journals The Social - Political Significance of Ruwatan Desa Ritual

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 280-302
Author(s):  
Hidayatul Wahidah ◽  
Akhmad Jazuli Afandi
Keyword(s):  
Point Of View ◽  
Political Support ◽  
Sacred Landscape ◽  
Sacred Place ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Local Election ◽  
The Social ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Mutual Relations

The Punden of Mbah Sentono is a sacred landscape that is used frequently by people to increase their spirituality. It is recognized as a sacred place to perform rituals such as tahlilan, slametan and ruwatan desa. The main issue I raise in this paper concerns the social-political significance of the rituals. The three main questions are, first, how is ruwatan practiced in the Punden of Mbah Sentono? Second, how have political actors used the ritual in the punden as a political tool in an election? The last, how have people also used the ritual in the punden to counter the political actors’ use the ritual? I will show that the rituals do have social-political significance and argue that both political actors and people in society have mutual relations through the rituals. From this point of view, I state that ritual in the Punden of Mbah Sentono is divided into two time periods, “during election period” and “after election period”. “The ritual during election period” are tahlilan and slametan which are handled by the candidates of the local election to build political support, whereas “the ritual after election” is ruwatan desa which is also used by the winner for negotiation and reconciliation to ease the negative impacts of the competitions during the local election, which affect people. On the other hand, people also use the rituals to ask for financial support from the candidates for holding big ruwatan desa and kirap. In the years before and after the election, ruwatan desa is held as small events. In this research, I analyze the social-political significance of ritual, using a theoretical framework informed by Kertzer. [Punden Mbah Sentono adalah tempat sakral yang sering digunakan sebagai tempat spiritual oleh orang-orang untuk meningkatkan spiritualitas mereka. Punden tersebut diakui sebagai tempat sacral untuk melakukan tahlilan, slametan dan ruwatan desa. Isu utama yang saya angkat didalam tesis ini adalah siknifikansi social-politik pada ritual. Ada tiga pertanyaan utama; yakni, pertama,  bagaimana ruwatan desa ritual dipraktekkan di punden Mbah Sentono? kedua, bagaimana actor politik menggunakan ritual didalam punden sebagai alat politik didalam pemilihan? Terakhir, bagaimana masyarakat menggunakan ritual di punden untuk keluar dari actor politik? Saya akan menunjukkan bahwa ritual mempunyai siknifikansi social-politik dan beranggapan bahwa actor politik dan masyarakat mempunyai hubungan timbal balik melalui ritual.]

scholarly journals Contentious precarious generation in anti-austerity movements in Spain and Italy

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Massimiliano Andretta ◽  
Donatella Della Porta
Keyword(s):  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Collective Identity ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Organizational Network ◽  
Network Embeddedness ◽  
Political Opportunities ◽  
The Social ◽  
Identity Based ◽  
Formal Network

This article focuses on the precarious generation protesting in Spain and Italy in times of crisis and austerity (2010-2012). Their many similarities notwithstanding, the two countries have experienced different types of mobilization against austerity measures. In Spain, a relatively autonomous mobilization –characterized by new collective actors and new forms of action– has made possible the building of a political actor, Podemos, able to seriously challenge the established political parties. In Italy, instead, the mobilization was dominated by established political actors, especially trade unions, did not produce innovative forms of action and has not been able to overcome (so far) the fragmentation of the social movement sector. In both countries, however, the anti-austerity protests have been characterized by a strong presence of what we call hear the “precarious generation”, particularly exposed to the economic crisis and the austerity measures. By relying on data from several surveys conducted in demonstrations on social, economic and labor issues in the two countries from 2010 to 2011, in this article we single out differences and the similarities in terms of presence, social composition, grievances and emotion, collective identity and network embeddedness of the precarious generation. Our findings show that the precarious generation was almost equally present in the selected demonstrations in the two countries, share similar socio-graphic features and similar types of grievance and emotions. Nonetheless, in Spain it seems to have built a more cohesive and radical collective identity based upon a more informal and internet based network integration while in Italy it seems embedded in a more traditional and formal network, which prevented the formation of a strong collective identity. Moreover, while in Spain the differences between the older and the precarious generation reveal that, both have a strong identity based on different networks; more formal the older and more related to informal and online instruments the latter; in Italy, the older generation has a much stronger collective identity based on a organizational network, while the precarious one is less but still integrated in organizational network. We conclude that the more autonomous civil society tradition in Spain, together with the particular political opportunities, under the pressure of a harsher economic crisis, may account for the differences we found.

scholarly journals Between Progress and Backwardness. A Look at the Housing Policy of the Period of the People’s Republic of Poland from the Social and Economic Perspective After 1989

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-82
Author(s):  
Jakub Kujawa
Keyword(s):  
Housing Policy ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Free Market ◽  
Third Republic ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Economic Point ◽  
Economic Changes ◽  
The Social ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Housing Issue

AbstractThe article deals with the issue of the place, role and significance of the achievements of the housing policy of the Polish People’s Republic (PRL) and in the economy before and after 1989, observed from the contemporary social and economic point of view. In the period of systemic transformation, expert and opinion-makers were, in majority, critical of the achievements of the housing policy of the prior period. This led to the creation and subsequent consolidation in public discourse of the negative image of the housing construction of the PRL period. 30 years after the collapse of communism, during which time the free market economy developed and Poland became a member of EU, this topic requires a more objective look and a more focused approach to the range of socio-demographic and economic changes that took place during that period. The current perception of the problem is also influenced by the lack of solutions to the housing issue by successive governments of the Third Republic of Poland.

Evaluative Dimensions of Urban Tourism in Capital Cities by First-Time Visitors

2019 ◽  
pp. 524-538
Author(s):  
Annamaria Silvana de Rosa ◽  
Laura Dryjanska ◽  
Elena Bocci
Keyword(s):  
Social Representations ◽  
Urban Tourism ◽  
Previous Knowledge ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Capital Cities ◽  
Integrative Framework ◽  
The Social ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Implicit And Explicit ◽  
First Time

This chapter evaluates the social representations of historic European capital cities, comparing it before and after the first-time visit that took place in the period from 2011 to 2013. Based on the set of empirical data, it presents and discusses the integrative framework for evaluation of a city conceived as a resource in responsible urban tourism. In particular, the social representations of Madrid, London, and Warsaw by 420 visitors from seven different EU and non-EU countries (France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, United Kingdom, and United States) are examined according to the modelling approach to the theory of social representations, focusing on the evaluative dimension present in an implicit and explicit way. Understanding how tourists assess the resource that they access, based on previous knowledge as opposed to direct experience, shall lay ground for enabling the policy makers and city planners to take into account the expectations of visitors while pursuing urban tourism development in the geo-cultural locations of European capital cities.

Evaluative Dimensions of Urban Tourism in Capital Cities by First-Time Visitors

2018 ◽  
pp. 4064-4076
Author(s):  
Annamaria Silvana de Rosa ◽  
Laura Dryjanska ◽  
Elena Bocci
Keyword(s):  
Social Representations ◽  
Urban Tourism ◽  
Previous Knowledge ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Capital Cities ◽  
Integrative Framework ◽  
The Social ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Implicit And Explicit ◽  
First Time

This chapter is dedicated to evaluative component of the social representations of historic European capital cities, comparing it before and after the first-time visit that took place in the period from 2011 to 2013. Based on the set of empirical data, it presents and discusses the integrative framework for evaluation of a city conceived as a resource in responsible urban tourism. In particular, the social representations of Madrid, London and Warsaw by 420 visitors from seven different EU and non-EU countries (France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain, United Kingdom and United States) are examined according to the modelling approach to the theory of social representations, focusing on the evaluative dimension present in an implicit and explicit way. Understanding how tourists assess the resource that they access, based on previous knowledge as opposed to direct experience, shall lay ground for enabling the policy makers and city planners to take into account the expectations of visitors while pursuing urban tourism development in the geo-cultural locations of European capital cities.

scholarly journals The process of establishment of Roma elite. The case of Cluj.

2003 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-86
Author(s):  
Réka Geambașu
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
Social Space ◽  
Political Elite ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Political Dialogue ◽  
Roma Population ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
The Social ◽  
To Come

In Romania, the political leaders of the Roma community and the main actors from civil organizations face a particular situation. The legitimization of their leadership position ought to come neither from Roma population, nor from the non-n-Roma, but from the political elite of the majority-state who might accept or reject them as partners of political dialogue, as legitimate representatives of the Roma population. The Romanian political actors decide who or whose circle will be considered the legitimate delegate of the Roma, their attitude constituting the major determinant of the Roma elite configuration. Roma issues are thus defined from above, by outsiders who circumscribe the social space at the disposal of Roma leaders, mark their public discourse and delimit the area of their initiatives. The study of Geambaşuşu Réka sheds light on this subject by presenting the case of Cluj.

scholarly journals How is the economic crisis socially assessed?

2016 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Roland-Lévy ◽  
Ruxanda Kmiec ◽  
Jérémy Lemoine
Keyword(s):  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Social Representations ◽  
Central Element ◽  
Free Association ◽  
Social Representation ◽  
Perceived Ability ◽  
Ability To Act ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Representation Theory ◽  
The Impact

Based on the Social Representation Theory, the purpose of this article is to explore how lay-people consider both the economic crisis and risk, and to link these social representations to behavior. The article offers an original approach with the articulation of two studies about the social construction of risk and crises. It also contributes to the development of research methods for studying the connections between representations and practical implications. Based on this, the impact of the social representation of the crisis on the perceived ability to act is approached. The first study focuses on free-association tasks, with two distinct target terms: ‘risk’ and ‘crisis’. The structural approach, with a prototypical analysis, allowed the identification of two different representations: (1) for risk, ‘danger’ is the central element; (2) for crisis, ‘economy’ and ‘money’ constitute the main components of the representation. The second study investigates the links between the two previously detected structures and their relations with the perceived ability to act in a financial crisis context. Some aspects of social knowledge were found to have an impact on perceived ability to act.

Commitment to pro- versus counter-attitudinal behavior and the dynamics of social representations

2002 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Tafani ◽  
Lionel Souchet
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Representations ◽  
Cognitive Restructuring ◽  
Social Representation ◽  
Two Dimensional ◽  
Dimensional Model ◽  
Social Actions ◽  
The Social ◽  
Two Dimensional Model ◽  
Students Attitudes

This research uses the counter-attitudinal essay paradigm ( Janis & King, 1954 ) to test the effects of social actions on social representations. Thus, students wrote either a pro- or a counter-attitudinal essay on Higher Education. Three forms of counter-attitudinal essays were manipulated countering respectively a) students’ attitudes towards higher education; b) peripheral beliefs or c) central beliefs associated with this representation object. After writing the essay, students expressed their attitudes towards higher education and evaluated different beliefs associated with it. The structural status of these beliefs was also assessed by a “calling into question” test ( Flament, 1994a ). Results show that behavior challenging either an attitude or peripheral beliefs induces a rationalization process, giving rise to minor modifications of the representational field. These modifications are only on the social evaluative dimension of the social representation. On the other hand, when the behavior challenges central beliefs, the same rationalization process induces a cognitive restructuring of the representational field, i.e., a structural change in the representation. These results and their implications for the experimental study of representational dynamics are discussed with regard to the two-dimensional model of social representations ( Moliner, 1994 ) and rationalization theory ( Beauvois & Joule, 1996 ).

Liberté d'opinion et limite normative dans une représentation sociale: le développement de l'intelligence 1Ce texte reprend l'essentiel d'un exposé présenté en juin 1998 à la Faculté de Psychologie et des Sciences de l'Education de Genève, à l'occasion de la collation du Doctorat Honoris Causa de l'Université de Genève à l'auteur.

1999 ◽  
Vol 58 (3) ◽  
pp. 201-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claude Flament
Keyword(s):  
Social Representations ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Individual

This paper is concerned by a possible articulation between the diversity of individual opinions and the existence of consensus in social representations. It postulates the existence of consensual normative boundaries framing the individual opinions. A study by questionnaire about the social representations of the development of intelligence gives support to this notion.

Social Representations and Commitment

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 233-249 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Bonetto ◽  
Fabien Girandola ◽  
Grégory Lo Monaco
Keyword(s):  
Social Representations ◽  
Social Representation ◽  
Second Line ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
First Line ◽  
Research Perspectives ◽  
The Social ◽  
Bibliographic Search ◽  
English Articles

Abstract. This contribution consists of a critical review of the literature about the articulation of two traditionally separated theoretical fields: social representations and commitment. Besides consulting various works and communications, a bibliographic search was carried out (between February and December, 2016) on various databases using the keywords “commitment” and “social representation,” in the singular and in the plural, in French and in English. Articles published in English or in French, that explicitly made reference to both terms, were included. The relations between commitment and social representations are approached according to two approaches or complementary lines. The first line follows the role of commitment in the representational dynamics: how can commitment transform the representations? This articulation gathers most of the work on the topic. The second line envisages the social representations as determinants of commitment procedures: how can these representations influence the effects of commitment procedures? This literature review will identify unexploited tracks, as well as research perspectives for both areas of research.

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