scholarly journals Stranger Things: Complex Serial, Complex Industry. The Institutional, Cultural, and Textual Significance of Internet-Distributed Television

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Caitlin Grandy
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Distributed Networks ◽  
Cultural Significance ◽  
Television Industry ◽  
Breaking Bad ◽  
Cable Networks ◽  
The Sopranos ◽  
The Us ◽  
Streaming Services

<p>This thesis explores the emergence and significance of internet-distributed television by unpacking the industrial, cultural, and textual ramifications of programming originated for an online context. As one of the foremost streaming services both globally and within the United States, Netflix will be the central focus of this thesis. The programmes that Netflix originates facilitate discussions around the potential of this network and its online platform to encourage innovation and novelty in its long-form TV drama. Netflix’s Stranger Things (2016–), a programme concept that was reputedly rejected by a number of cable networks before being accepted by Netflix, provides a compelling case study of the creative possibilities afforded by streaming capabilities.  This exploration is structured into three chapters. The first examines the environmental and institutional factors of the US television industry from which internet-distributed networks emerged. This chapter also explores the different economic models and the associated storytelling methods of each. Chapter 2 demonstrates the cultural significance of streaming on consumption behaviours and explores how broadcast, cable, and internet-distributed TV networks conceive of and pursue audiences. The analysis of several seminal TV dramas, such as The Sopranos (HBO 1999-2007), Game of Thrones (HBO 2011-2019), and Breaking Bad (AMC 2008-2013), provides comparisons from which to better understand the significance of Stranger Things to both the network that commissioned it and to the American television industry at large. The third chapter offers a detailed analysis of Stranger Things as an exemplar of Netflix’s ability to commission what Trisha Dunleavy (2018) terms the ‘complex serial drama’ and in doing so emulate the successful strategies first deployed by US cable networks.</p>

scholarly journals Stranger Things: Complex Serial, Complex Industry. The Institutional, Cultural, and Textual Significance of Internet-Distributed Television

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Caitlin Grandy
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Distributed Networks ◽  
Cultural Significance ◽  
Television Industry ◽  
Breaking Bad ◽  
Cable Networks ◽  
The Sopranos ◽  
The Us ◽  
Streaming Services

<p>This thesis explores the emergence and significance of internet-distributed television by unpacking the industrial, cultural, and textual ramifications of programming originated for an online context. As one of the foremost streaming services both globally and within the United States, Netflix will be the central focus of this thesis. The programmes that Netflix originates facilitate discussions around the potential of this network and its online platform to encourage innovation and novelty in its long-form TV drama. Netflix’s Stranger Things (2016–), a programme concept that was reputedly rejected by a number of cable networks before being accepted by Netflix, provides a compelling case study of the creative possibilities afforded by streaming capabilities.  This exploration is structured into three chapters. The first examines the environmental and institutional factors of the US television industry from which internet-distributed networks emerged. This chapter also explores the different economic models and the associated storytelling methods of each. Chapter 2 demonstrates the cultural significance of streaming on consumption behaviours and explores how broadcast, cable, and internet-distributed TV networks conceive of and pursue audiences. The analysis of several seminal TV dramas, such as The Sopranos (HBO 1999-2007), Game of Thrones (HBO 2011-2019), and Breaking Bad (AMC 2008-2013), provides comparisons from which to better understand the significance of Stranger Things to both the network that commissioned it and to the American television industry at large. The third chapter offers a detailed analysis of Stranger Things as an exemplar of Netflix’s ability to commission what Trisha Dunleavy (2018) terms the ‘complex serial drama’ and in doing so emulate the successful strategies first deployed by US cable networks.</p>

Shale Resources, Parks Conservation, and Contested Public Lands in North Dakota’s Theodore Roosevelt National Park: Is Fracking Booming?

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Miriam R. Aczel ◽  
Karen E. Makuch
Keyword(s):  
National Park ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
The United States ◽  
Federal Agencies ◽  
Cultural Significance ◽  
Theodore Roosevelt ◽  
Natural Beauty ◽  
Theodore Roosevelt National Park ◽  
Bakken Shale

This case study analyzes the potential impacts of weakening the National Park Service’s (NPS) “9B Regulations” enacted in 1978, which established a federal regulatory framework governing hydrocarbon rights and extraction to protect natural resources within the parks. We focus on potential risks to national parklands resulting from Executive Orders 13771—Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs [1]—and 13783—Promoting Energy Independence and Economic Growth [2]—and subsequent recent revisions and further deregulation. To establish context, we briefly overview the history of the United States NPS and other relevant federal agencies’ roles and responsibilities in protecting federal lands that have been set aside due to their value as areas of natural beauty or historical or cultural significance [3]. We present a case study of Theodore Roosevelt National Park (TRNP) situated within the Bakken Shale Formation—a lucrative region of oil and gas deposits—to examine potential impacts if areas of TRNP, particularly areas designated as “wilderness,” are opened to resource extraction, or if the development in other areas of the Bakken near or adjacent to the park’s boundaries expands [4]. We have chosen TRNP because of its biodiversity and rich environmental resources and location in the hydrocarbon-rich Bakken Shale. We discuss where federal agencies’ responsibility for the protection of these lands for future generations and their responsibility for oversight of mineral and petroleum resources development by private contractors have the potential for conflict.

Remember the Ladies: Competition and Mobilization in the United States

2018 ◽  
pp. 83-132
Author(s):  
Dawn Langan Teele
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Political Geography ◽  
Gilded Age ◽  
Political Competition ◽  
State Legislatures ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Us ◽  
Race Ethnicity

This chapter presents a case study of women's enfranchisement in the United States. It argues that the formation of a broad coalition of women, symbolized by growing membership in a large non-partisan suffrage organization, in combination with competitive conditions in state legislatures, was crucial to securing politicians' support for women's suffrage in the states. The chapter first gives a broad overview of the phases of the US suffrage movement, arguing that the salience of political cleavages related to race, ethnicity, nativity, and class influenced the type of movement suffragists sought to build. It then describes the political geography of the Gilded Age, showing how the diversity of political competition and party organization that characterized the several regions mirrors the pattern of women's enfranchisement across the states.

Development of the Medical Interpreting Profession in the US

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-25
Author(s):  
Holly M. Mikkelson
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Labor Market ◽  
The United States ◽  
Role Of Government ◽  
The Us ◽  
Medical Interpreters ◽  
Medical Interpreting ◽  
Further Development

This chapter traces the development of the medical interpreting profession in the United States as a case study. It begins with the conception of interpreters as volunteer helpers or dual-role medical professionals who happened to have some knowledge of languages other than English. Then it examines the emergence of training programs for medical interpreters, incipient efforts to impose standards by means of certification tests, the role of government in providing language access in health care, and the beginning of a labor market for paid medical interpreters. The chapter concludes with a description of the current situation of professional medical interpreting in the United States, in terms of training, certification and the labor market, and makes recommendations for further development.

Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage: A Case Study on US Latina/o Archives and Digital Humanities

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 17-27
Author(s):  
Gabriela Baeza Ventura ◽  
Lorena Gauthereau ◽  
Carolina Villarroel
Keyword(s):  
Digital Humanities ◽  
The United States ◽  
Digital Repository ◽  
Successful Work ◽  
The Us ◽  
Literary Heritage ◽  
History Of ◽  
Personal Archives ◽  
The University

AbstractThis article focuses on the work and efforts put forth by the University of Houston’s Recovering the US Hispanic Literary Heritage program (Recovery) to create the first digital humanities center for US Latina/o Research: #usLdh. Recovery is a program to locate, preserve, and make available the written legacy of Latinas/os in the United States since colonial times until 1960. Through 27 years of successful work Recovery has not only been able to inscribe the excluded history of Latinas/os, but also has created an inclusive and vast digital repository that facilitates scholarship in this area of studies. This article focuses on the importance of recovery work in the writing, teaching, and understanding of history and considers how local personal archives have helped to fill in the gaps of mainstream history. We will detail the goals and challenges of this mission, as well as the importance of educating the community in digital methods that preserve and disseminate minority voices.

Legitimation strategies in discourse surrounding Sino-American trade friction: A case study of Chinese government white papers

2021 ◽  
pp. 175048132198983
Author(s):  
Xi Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
The United States ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Trade Friction ◽  
The Us ◽  
Us Trade Policy ◽  
Chinese Cultural Values ◽  
Trade Frictions

This article reports a critical discourse analysis of the legitimation strategies used in two Chinese government white papers about trade frictions between China and the United States. Drawing on the legitimation framework advanced by van Leeuwen to political discourse, it shows how the white papers use four main legitimation strategies: authorization, moralization, rationalization, and integration. It argues that the Chinese government uses these strategies to legitimate its responses to US trade policy and delegitimate the US government’s motives for initiating/escalating tensions. This article also discusses how the use of these legitimation strategies draws from certain traditional Chinese cultural values, such as Confucianism, the culture of face, and collectivism. This article is a part of a larger research project studying discursive strategies in trade friction discourse and hopes to shed light on the attributes and functions of this type of discourse.

Policy actors’ perceptions of qualitative research in policymaking: the case of higher education rulemaking in the United States

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca S. Natow
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Quantitative Research ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
The United States ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Policy Actors ◽  
Target Populations ◽  
The Us

Background: As calls for evidence-based policymaking become increasingly common, qualitative research has much to offer the policy community. However, policymakers frequently evidence a preference for quantitative research. By discounting the importance of qualitative research in the policymaking process, resulting policies and their target populations miss out on the benefits that qualitative research uniquely offers.Aims and objectives: The purpose of this study was to examine how qualitative research has been perceived and used in the US government’s rulemaking process for creating higher education regulations.Methods: This qualitative case study included data from semi-structured interviews with 34 policy actors involved in higher education rulemaking, rulemaking documents, and research reports cited in several key higher education regulations.Findings: Many policy actors viewed qualitative research favourably, but qualitative studies have seldom been cited in higher education rulemaking. Several respondents discussed validity concerns and some policymakers’ misunderstandings regarding qualitative methods. Moreover, storytelling can influence policy actors’ perspectives about the content of policies, and qualitative research was viewed as effective at identifying compelling stories. Thus, narratives derived from qualitative research may provide an opportunity for qualitative researchers to have their work considered in policymaking processes.Discussion and conclusion: Qualitative research faces challenges with gaining visibility and influence in the development of regulatory policy. However, this study has shown that qualitative research has the potential to be both useful and persuasive to policymakers. Studies that discuss relevant stories may be particularly compelling.

Good Public Policy Voting in the US Congress: An Explanation of Financial Institutions Politics

1995 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-91
Author(s):  
John E. Owens
Keyword(s):  
Interest Group ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Regulatory Policy ◽  
The United States ◽  
Us Congress ◽  
Close Analysis ◽  
The Us ◽  
Economic Preferences ◽  
Experience Difficulty

Two important themes in the literature on the United States Congress are that members experience difficulty transacting complex technical legislation – because most are not experts – and that they make their decisions on the basis of what will help them win re-election, by following the economic preferences of their interest group or electoral constituencies. The few writers who have examined congressional decisionmaking on financial institutions regulatory policy have generally accepted the conventional re-election premise and argued that legislators follow the economic preferences of their interest group of electoral constituencies. Using a case study of how members of a House committee make decisions on complex financial institutions regulatory policy, the article offers an alternative political explanation which takes better account of the complexity of congressional decisionmaking and the specific nature of the policy issues which are decided. Through a close analysis of internal committee politics, the research demonstrates the crucial roles played by subject specialists and the importance of party-mediated cue-passing.

Securing Central America Against Communism: The United States and the Modernization of Surveillance in the Cold War

1999 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert H. Holden
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Central America ◽  
Formation Process ◽  
The United States ◽  
Central American ◽  
Sponsored Programs ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Cold War

The US.-sponsored programs of military and police collaboration with the Central American governments during the Cold War also contributed to the surveillance capacity of those states during the period when the Central American state formation process was being completed. Guatemala is used as a case study. Washington’s contribution was framed by the conventional discourse of “security against communism” but also by an underlying technocratic ethos in which “modernization” and “security” were higher priorities than democratization.

A working-class hero is something to be: the American Musicians’ Union's attempt to ban the Beatles, 1964

Popular Music ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Roberts
Keyword(s):  
The United States ◽  
Nixon Administration ◽  
United States Government ◽  
Cultural Conflict ◽  
Court Case ◽  
Cultural Significance ◽  
Department Of Labor ◽  
American Federation ◽  
The Us ◽  
Counter Culture

AbstractThis article examines the historical and cultural significance of the attempted ban on the Beatles’ concerts in the US by the American Federation of Musicians and the Immigration and Naturalization Service of the United States government in 1964. While there has been much attention given to the court case against John Lennon waged by the INS and the Nixon Administration in the early 1970s, much less is known about the earlier case brought against the Beatles by the INS and the Department of Labor on behalf of the AFM, which became a national scandal in 1964, pitting fans of the Beatles against the AFM and the INS. Fans framed the controversy over the Beatles as a cultural conflict between generations, while the AFM framed the problem as a labour market issue. My examination of the incident reveals the way in which a submerged cultural problem embedded in a putatively economic discourse rose to the surface through conflicts over the discursive framing of the Beatles controversy. This case is important not only in terms of expanding our empirical knowledge of the internal history of the Beatles and rock and roll music, but also more generally as an episode that foreshadowed the cultural conflict between the American labour union bureaucracy and the counter-culture that emerged in the late 1960s. This essay analyses heretofore-unexamined documents from the US National Archives and Records Administration.

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