scholarly journals Outsiders Within: Framing and Regulation of Headscarves in France, Germany and The Netherlands

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 029-039 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doutje Lettinga ◽  
Sawitri Saharso
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
The Political ◽  
Parliamentary Debates ◽  
Political Debates ◽  
Islamic Headscarf ◽  
National Differences ◽  
The Social ◽  
Over Time

While women in Europe who wear the Islamic headscarf are generally seen as outsiders who do not belong to the nation, some countries are more tolerant towards the wearing of headscarves than others. France, Germany and the Netherlands have developed different policies regarding veiling. In this paper we describe how headscarves became regulated in each of these countries and discuss the ways in which French, Dutch and German politicians have deliberated the issue. The paper is based on a content analysis of parliamentary debates on veiling in France (1989–2007), Germany (1997–2007) and the Netherlands (1985–2007). Our aim is to discuss what these national political debates reveal about the way in which the social inclusion of Islamic women in (or rather exclusion from) the nation is perceived in these three countries. Our claim is that veiling arouses opposition because it challenges national self-understandings. Yet, because nations have different histories of nation building, these self-understandings are challenged in various ways and hence, governments have responded to headscarves with diverse regulation. While we did find national differences, we also discovered that the political debates in the three countries are converging over time. The trend is towards increasingly gendered debates and more restrictive headscarf policies. This, we hypothesize, is explained by international polarization around Islam and the strength of the populist anti-immigrant parties across Europe.

Introduction

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Charles Devellennes
Keyword(s):  
News Media ◽  
State Violence ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
The Social ◽  
Fundamental Challenge ◽  
New Type ◽  
The Right ◽  
Over Time

This chapter gives introduces the gilet jaunes. The gilets jaunes, a group of French protesters named after their iconic yellow vests donned during demonstrations, have formed a new type of social movement. The gilets jaunes have been variously interpreted since they began their occupation of French roundabouts. They were at first received with enthusiasm on the right of the French political establishment, and with caution on the left. The fourth weekend saw scenes of violence erupt on the Champs Élysées, notably around and within the Arc de Triomphe, which towers over the first roundabout built in France. The headlines of newspapers and stories of the news media became almost exclusively focused on the violence of the protests. Images of state violence became ever-present on Twitter and independent media outlets, making it clear that it was the use of disproportionate force by police units that was at the centre of the events. The chapter explains that the aim of the book is to show that the use of violence is not the only tale to be told about the role of the protesters in the contemporary French context. Their contribution to the political landscape of France is quite different. They have provided a fundamental challenge to the social contract in France, the implicit pact between the governed and their political leaders. The movement has seen the numbers of participants diminish over time, but the underlying tension between the haves and the have-nots, the winners of globalization and those at risk of déclassement [social downgrading], are enduring and persistent.

scholarly journals Social integration as security and dynamic stability factor of the European political system

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ludmila Rosca ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Integration ◽  
Dynamic Stability ◽  
Political System ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
The Political ◽  
Stability Factor ◽  
State Institutions ◽  
Communication Capacity ◽  
The Social ◽  
Integration Of Immigrants

In the article, the looks into different possibilities of social integration of people, social groups, pointing to the cause of marginalization – the low level of culture, communication capacity, selfknowledge. Regardless of the social status of the person: poor, employed, unemployed or immigrant, social inclusion is stimulated by the individual’s interest in knowing, acting, and manifesting himself. Social integration can and must be stimulated by state institutions, as well. Otherwise, dissatisfaction among the marginalized will lead to destabilization of the political system and social conflicts. The social integration of immigrants is a way of mitigating the social crisis that has occurred in European countries. The key objectives of the investigation are: to analyze the challenges to the security and instability of the political system of the European States; to define social integration and inclusion as a factor of the dynamic stability of the political system; to interpret marginalization as a destabilizing factor; to analyze the social integration of immigrants through knowledge and communication.

The Political Economy of Devolution

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Keating
Keyword(s):  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Institutional Capacity ◽  
The Political ◽  
Investment Strategies ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Partners ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Investment Capital

Small, devolved nations and regions lack major macro-economic powers. Yet in the context of spatial rescaling they have become important levels for managing economic growth and social cohesion. They may be exposed to a ‘race to the bottom’ by the need to attract investment capital. Yet, by adopting social investment strategies they can rec.oncling growth with social inclusion. The key factor is the institutional capacity to plan for the long term, to set priorities and to sustain cooperation among the social partners.

The Social Roles of Polish Sociologists after 1945

2011 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 735-765
Author(s):  
Joanna Bielecka-Prus
Keyword(s):  
Political System ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Socialist Country ◽  
Social Roles ◽  
Heterogeneous Group ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Press ◽  
Over Time

Abstract In this article I discuss the social roles of Polish sociologists in the period between 1945 and 1989. Sociologists in Poland are assumed to have constituted a heterogeneous group representing various attitudes towards the political system. Over time, they defined their intellectual role in public discourse differently. This picture remains incomplete without consideration of some crucial aspects: whether there were ways in which sociologists neutralized their participation in building the regime; and the techniques used for evasion and “legal criticism” of the system. The analysis is based on my comments of well-known sociologists published in the press and in books. Issues discussed include the function of sociology, the role of sociologists in a socialist country, and the position of sociology among other sciences and political doctrines.

scholarly journals The political institutionalization of the social economy in Ecuador: Indigeneity and institutional logics

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 269-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Calvo ◽  
Stephen Syrett ◽  
Andres Morales
Keyword(s):  
Social Economy ◽  
Institutional Logics ◽  
The Political ◽  
Policy Debate ◽  
Primary Research ◽  
Indigenous Institutions ◽  
The Social ◽  
State And Market ◽  
Development Paths ◽  
Over Time

How differing social economy traditions within the global South can combine with state and market sectors to provide alternative development paths has increasingly become a focus of political and policy debate. This paper uses an institutional logics perspective to analyse the interaction between indigenous collective traditions and other institutional logics in Ecuador’s social economy. Results demonstrate how indigenous practice has interacted with other social economy elements to produce novel organizational and institutional forms. Findings from original primary research identify processes of co-existence, accommodation and conflict in the interaction of differing institutional civil society, state and market logics and the institutionalization of the social economy. Critically, processes of conflict generated by contradictory logics have over time helped close down many of the new political spaces, limiting the ongoing inclusion of indigenous institutions and the ability to construct an alternative, pluralistic path to development.

Transformations of the Secular and the ‘Muslim Question’. Revisiting the Historical Coincidence of Depillarisation and the Institutionalisation of Islam in The Netherlands

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 208-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Bracke
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
Structural Level ◽  
Social Body ◽  
Ongoing Process ◽  
The Social ◽  
Multidimensional Concept ◽  
The Way

Abstract This article revisits the ‘historical coincidence’ of the process of ‘depillarisation’ and the institutionalisation of Islam in the Netherlands. It critically considers the established Dutch narrative of pillarisation, i.e. the organisation of the social body along confessional or sectarian lines, and the way in which this historical formation of Dutch secularism is mobilised within contemporary discussions about multiculturalism. This article further explores how depillarisation accounts figure within ‘the Muslim question’ in the Netherlands. While acknowledging that depillarisation is a multidimensional concept, it engages the argument that, on a structural level, Muslim claims of recognition and institutionalisation vis-à-vis the Dutch state were crucial for the process of depillarisation. The article thus reverses the suggestion that Muslims arrived ‘too late’ in an already depillarized society, and draws attention to the constitutive role of Muslims in the ongoing process of nation-building and secularism in the Netherlands.

scholarly journals Aluta continua: Accountability and the Domestic Violence Act, 116 of 1998

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Vetten
Keyword(s):  
Domestic Violence ◽  
The Political ◽  
Limited Capacity ◽  
Institutional Authority ◽  
Unique System ◽  
The Social ◽  
Over Time

In 1998, in an attempt to undo the long-standing neglect of domestic violence,  legislators placed a set of duties on the police in relation to domestic violence and coupled these with a unique system of accountability relations and practices. This articles examines the effect of these in three ways:review both of complaints of misconduct, as well as the station audits conducted in terms of the Domestic Violence Act's prescripts, and analysis of the workings of the Act's accountability mechanisms over time. This shows the Act's system of accountability to have had some success in making domestic violence a policing priority. But this has taken a number of years of interaction across the domains of the political, legal, bureaucratic and the social to accomplish. On this account accountability reveals itself to be a contingent outcome and practice that also takes different forms at different times. It also remains an ambivalent undertaking in relation to domestic violence. While answers may be demanded of the police, oversight of these responses is lodged with an agency possessing limited capacity and weak institutional authority.

scholarly journals How fast societies reach consensus over elections?: a methodology to study the evolution of Twitter conversations before election day

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Cárdenas-Sánchez ◽  
Andrés Miguel Sampayo ◽  
Maykol Rodríguez-Prieto ◽  
Alejandro Feged-Rivadeneira
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
The Political ◽  
Consensus Model ◽  
Electoral Outcomes ◽  
The Social ◽  
Technological Developments ◽  
Political Landscapes ◽  
Democratic Elections ◽  
Over Time

Abstract Technological developments in media and communications such as press, radio, and television have disrupted electoral processes and reshaped political landscapes. Similarly, the development of surveys enabled the social sciences to study the voting processes and measure consensus in a population prior to democratic elections. Literature on social networks and elections has focused on predicting electoral outcomes rather than understanding how the discussions between users evolve over time. As a result most studies focus on a single election and few comparative studies exist. In this article, a methodology to analyze Twitter conversations about election candidates is proposed. Using DeGroot’s consensus model-an assumption that all users are attempting to persuade others to talk about a candidate-the methodology allows to identify the structure and strength of connections of the mention networks on each month prior to an election day. It also helps to make comparisons between elections and identify patterns on different contexts. In the end, an analysis on the elections where the incumbent was running and the political regime is presented.

Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. 485-488
Keyword(s):  
Rapid Expansion ◽  
The Political ◽  
Charles Kingsley ◽  
Periodical Press ◽  
Social Reforms ◽  
Women Journalists ◽  
Political Debates ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Press ◽  
Political Realm

IN 1869, CHARLES KINGSLEY wrote a review of John Stuart Mill’s The Subjection of Women for Macmillan’s Magazine, praising its message about women’s fitness for participation in the political realm. He notes, ‘What women have done for the social reforms of the last forty years is known, or ought to be known, to all…. Who will say that Mrs Fry, or Miss Nightingale, or Miss Burdett Coutts, is not as fit to demand pledges of a candidate and the hustings on important social questions as any male elector?’ (Oct 1869: 558). In this way, he provided support for Mill’s argument in favour of women’s enfranchisement while at the same drawing attention to their ongoing influence in discussions of social and political questions – as recounted in and facilitated by the periodical press. Indeed, by 1869 women had been contributing to political discourse for many years, due largely to the convention of anonymity in most periodicals and newspapers. Hidden behind the ‘editorial we,’ women journalists did not have to write from gendered subject positions. The rapid expansion of the press during the same period, facilitated by advances in printing technology and reductions in the taxes on print, provided women with increased opportunities to enter the profession and contribute to political debates....

Red Aid, a Non-Accommodating NGO Challenging the Power of West-European States to Deny Protection to Undeserving Refugees, 1933–1935

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 304-331
Author(s):  
Frank Caestecker
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Immigration Policy ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
Nazi Germany ◽  
Political Regime ◽  
The Political ◽  
Social Democrats ◽  
Social Democratic ◽  
The Social

This article outlines how a refugee policy took shape in the liberal countries bordering Nazi Germany during the first half of the 1930s. In Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Czechoslovakia and Switzerland, immigration policy had become much more restrictive by 1933 when the refugees from Germany applied for asylum and the necessity for a ‘side entrance’ for asylum seekers to these countries became apparent. The focus here is on the role of the Communist aid organisation, the Red Aid, in this endeavour. In comparison to the social-democratic aid organisations, the Red Aid was deficient, but most importantly it was an outsider to the political regime, while the Social-Democrats were part of the political regime. Still the authorities in all countries conceded by 1935 that German Communist refugees were more deserving than other unwanted immigrants who were expelled without much ado. This article argues that the campaigns of the Red Aid in the rather limited liberalisation of policy towards Communist refugees by 1935 did have some effect since their denouncement of the inhumane treatment of Communist refugees led these liberal polities to restrain themselves in their treatment of these most ‘undeserving’ of refugees.

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