scholarly journals Coming up for Air: On Reading in a Global Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-21
Author(s):  
Aparna Tarc
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
The Public ◽  
Social Sphere ◽  
The Earth ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Teaching Of Reading ◽  
Racial Injustice ◽  
The World ◽  
To Come ◽  
The Public Sphere

The thought of breath grips the world as climate change, racial injustice and a global pandemic converge to suck oxygen, the lifeforce, out of the earth. The visibility of breath, its critical significance to existence, I argue, is made evident by poets. To speak of breath is to lodge ourselves between birth and death and requires sustained, meditative, attentive study to an everyday yet taken for granted practice. Like breathing, reading is also a practice that many took for granted until the pandemic. My paper will engage the affective and/or poetic dimensions of reading left out of theories of literacy that render it instrumental and divorced from the life of the reader (Freire, 1978). I will suggest that scholars of literacy, in every language, begin to engage a poetics of literacy as attending to the existential significance of language in carrying our personhood and lives. I will also argue that our diminishing capacities to read imaginatively and creatively have led to the rise of populist ideologies that infect public discourse and an increasingly anti-intellectual and depressed social sphere. Despite this decline in the practice and teaching of reading, it is reported that more than any other activity, reading sustained the lives of individuals and communities’ during a global pandemic. Teachers and scholars might take advantage of the renewed interested in reading to redeliver poetry and literary language to the public sphere to teach affective reading. Poetry harkens back to ancient practices of reading inherent in all traditions of reading. It enacts a pedagogy of breath, I argue, one that observes its significance in our capacity to exist through the exchange of air in words, an exchange of vital textual meanings we have taken for granted as we continue to infect our social and political world and earth with social hatred, toxins, and death. In this paper I engage fragments of poetry by poets of our time (last century onward) that teaches us to breathe and relearn the divine and primal stance that reading poetry attends to and demands. More than any other form, “poetry,” Ada Limon claims, “has breath built into it”. As such, reading poetry helps us to breathe when the world bears down and makes it hard for us to come up for air.

scholarly journals The Rise and Fall of the New Arab Public Sphere

2015 ◽  
Vol 114 (776) ◽  
pp. 331-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Lynch
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Critical Power ◽  
Public Spheres ◽  
The Public ◽  
The World ◽  
Arab Politics ◽  
To Come ◽  
The Public Sphere

“Arab politics will be torn for many years to come between the restless, critical power of the public sphere and the determined efforts of regimes, states, and old elites to maintain their domination.” Third in a series on public spheres around the world.

scholarly journals Problems and prospects for the development of the tourism industry in a global pandemic.

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 325-331
Author(s):  
Viacheslav Zadoia
Keyword(s):  
Tourism Industry ◽  
State Budget ◽  
The Public ◽  
Social Sphere ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
Hotel Chains ◽  
The Media ◽  
Further Development

The author notes that in a global pandemic, global mobility restrictions have led to a deep crisis in international and domestic tourism. Other sectors of the economy related to tourism, such as transport, hotels, restaurants, services, etc., were also affected. Given that the tourism industry is an important component for the formation of the state budget of many countries, and for some countries - the main budget-generating industry, it is clear how important it is to find mechanisms to minimize losses caused by quarantine restrictions on mobility. Governments are trying to find ways to compensate for the loss of revenue caused by the slowdown in tourism growth, which is needed to finance public services, including in the social sphere, environmental protection, agriculture and the financial sector, and to take measures to meet debt maturities, both in the public and in the private segment. Forecasting and identifying trends for the further development of the tourism business and related sectors of the economy in a pandemic is one of the important tasks of analysts, economists, and logisticians from around the world. The measures currently proposed are aimed at reducing the rate of the global pandemic - mass vaccination of the population, regional and local lockdowns, self-isolation of tourists and various migrants, all this does not work in favor of improving the rate of tourist travel. Thus, it can be stated that the global pandemic has affected the entire tourism business - the work of operators, airlines, hotel chains, digital booking platforms, advertising in the media, so we can confidently predict a global contraction of the tourism industry for at least the next five years.

scholarly journals Å le eller ikke le: Holdninger til religionshumor i den norske befolkning

Ingen spøk ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 31-52
Author(s):  
Pål Ketil Botvar
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Freedom Of Expression ◽  
Vulnerable Groups ◽  
The Public ◽  
The World ◽  
Heated Debate ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Different Parts

Do Norwegians think it is okay to laugh at humour that is related to religion? This is the question I explore, based on a representative survey conducted in Norway. In recent years the relationship between religion and humour has been a topic of public discourse, sparked initially in 2005/2006 when the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten and the Norwegian weekly Magazinet published cartoons depicting the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The publications led to heated debate, riots and demonstrations in different parts of the world. The 2015 attack on the French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo brought the topic back into the public eye. The controversy over boundaries for joking about religion is part of a larger debate about freedom of expression and the rights of vulnerable groups such as religious minorities. Given the public debate on the topic, one can assume that many Norwegians have made up their minds about the topic of humour and religion in the public sphere.

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. 

Archiving the British Raj

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sabyasachi Bhattacharya
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Colonial Rule ◽  
Historical Records ◽  
The Public ◽  
British Raj ◽  
National Archives ◽  
The World ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Central Archive

The archives are generally sites where historians conduct research into our past. Seldom are they objects of research. Sabyasachi Bhattacharya traces the path that led to the creation of a central archive in India, from the setting up of the Imperial Record Department, the precursor of the National Archives of India, and the Indian Historical Records Commission, to the framing of archival policies and the change in those policies over the years. In the last two decades of colonial rule in India, there were anticipations of freedom in many areas of the public sphere. These were felt in the domain of archiving as well, chiefly in the form of reversal of earlier policies. From this perspective, Bhattacharya explores the relation between knowledge and power and discusses how the World Wars and the decline of Britain, among other factors, effected a transition from a Eurocentric and disparaging approach to India towards a more liberal and less ethnocentric one.

Sex in the City that Peter Built: The Demimonde and Sociability in Mid-Eighteenth Century St. Petersburg

Slavic Review ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 907-930
Author(s):  
Igor Fedyukin
Keyword(s):  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Reading Public ◽  
Associational Life ◽  
The Public ◽  
The World ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The City

This article uses the materials of the Drezdensha affair, a large-scale investigation of “indecency” in St. Petersburg in 1750, to explore unofficial sociability among the Imperial elite, and to map out the institutional, social, and economic dimensions of the post-Petrine “sexual underworld.” Sociability and, ultimately, the public sphere in eighteenth century Russia are usually associated with loftier practices, with joining the ranks of the reading public, reflecting on the public good, and generally, becoming more civil and polite. Yet, it is the privately-run, commercially-oriented, and sexually-charged “parties” at the focus of this article that arguably served as a “training ground” for developing the habits of sociability. The world of these “parties” provides a missing link between the debauchery and carousing of Peter I's era and the more polite formats of associational life in the late eighteenth century, as well as the historical context for reflections on morality, sexual licentiousness, foppery, and the excesses of “westernization.”

scholarly journals Introduction: Publics and Participation in Early Modern Britain

2017 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 709-730 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura A. M. Stewart
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Cultural Exchange ◽  
The Public ◽  
Cultural Boundaries ◽  
Modern Britain ◽  
Institutional Variation ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Important Shift

AbstractThe deconstruction of what is termed “the public sphere” in recent decades has resulted in an important shift in scholarly attention towards networks and forms of association. This article explores how greater sensitivity to the unstable and ephemeral nature of “publics,” combined with a stronger awareness of the role of cultural exchange, has undoubtedly enriched our understanding of early modern politics. Some analytical precision has, nonetheless, been lost. A justifiable emphasis on the artificiality of the territorial borders that have defined units of enquiry has occurred at the expense of deeper consideration of the cultural boundaries that dictated the terms on which people could participate in and shape public discourse. Study of the British archipelago can offer new ways of thinking about these problems. Linguistic and ethnic differences, the search for religious concord as well as the reality of confessional division, institutional variation, and the consequences of London's increasing dominance of the archipelago, are key facets of the reassessments undertaken here. The article concludes by reflecting on how interactions between varieties of “public” and other forms of association can nuance our understanding of early modern state formation.

scholarly journals UNDERSTANDING LAW AND RELIGION AS CULTURE: MAKING ROOM FOR MEANING IN THE PUBLIC SPHERE

2011 ◽  
Vol 15 (1, 2 & 3) ◽  
pp. 2006
Author(s):  
Benjamin L. Berger
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Past ◽  
Law And Politics ◽  
Important Relationship ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Relationship

The relationship between law and religion in contemporary civil society has been a topic of increasing social interest and importance in Canada in the past many years. We have seen the practices and commitments of religious groups and individuals become highly salient on many issues of public policy, including the nature of the institution of marriage, the content of public education, and the uses of public space, to name just a few. As the vehicle for this discussion, I want to ask a straightforward question: When we listen to our public discourse, what is the story that we hear about the relationship between law and religion? How does this topic tend to be spoken about in law and politics – what is our idiom around this issue – and does this story serve us well? Though straightforward, this question has gone all but unanswered in our political and academic discussions. We take for granted our approach to speaking about – and, therefore, our way of thinking about – the relationship between law and religion. In my view, this is most unfortunate because this taken-for-grantedness is the source of our failure to properly understand the critically important relationship between law and religion.

Transnational Protest and The Public Sphere

2005 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Beyeler ◽  
Hanspeter Kriesi
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Media Coverage ◽  
Public Support ◽  
Economic Globalization ◽  
The Public ◽  
The World ◽  
World Economic ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Selection Of

This article explores the impact of protests against economic globalization in the public sphere. The focus is on two periodical events targeted by transnational protests: the ministerial conferences of the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the annual meetings of the World Economic Forum (WEF). Based on a selection of seven quality newspapers published in different parts of the world, we trace media attention, support of the activists, as well as the broader public debate on economic globalization. We find that starting with Seattle, protest events received extensive media coverage. Media support of the street activists, especially in the case of the anti-WEF protests, is however rather low. Nevertheless, despite the low levels of support that street protesters received, many of their issues obtain wide public support.

Does Your Research Really Matter? Revitalizing Public Engagement in the Study of Emerging Adulthood

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (6) ◽  
pp. 383-390
Author(s):  
Elizabeth M. Morgan
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Emerging Adulthood ◽  
Emerging Adults ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Research Process ◽  
The Public ◽  
Societal Relevance ◽  
The World ◽  
Or Practice ◽  
The Public Sphere

The broad goal of researchers of emerging adulthood can be construed as wanting to advance the understanding of development in emerging adulthood with the outcome of bettering the lives of emerging adults throughout the world. However, the information we amass during the research process is rarely extracted into the public sphere to influence policy or practice. My goal in this article is to revitalize motivations to conduct research that matters and provide an overview of practices that enhance the societal relevance and translational nature of our research via public engagement. First, I will discuss what public engagement by researchers is and why it matters. Second, I will identify barriers to engaging in public engagement. Third, I will review practices that can move us toward greater public engagement as researchers of emerging adulthood. Overall, though it presents many challenges, public engagement is critical for using our research to invoke social change.

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