scholarly journals En opplyst samtale: Om rettsvitenskapens oppgaver i kriminalpolitikken

2017 ◽  
Vol 103 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Morten Holmboe
Keyword(s):  
Academic Freedom ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Legal Research ◽  
Public Debates ◽  
Political Decisions

English title: Title in English: An enlightened public discourse: On the tasks of legal research regarding criminal politicsWhat are the primary tasks of legal research regarding the politics of crime? Political decisions on crime are decided and executed by politicians, the courts and administrators. Researchers should not avoid politically hot issues, but must take care not to let their political sympathies influence their statements when they give opinions qua legal experts. Academic freedom implies a duty for researchers to take part in enlightened public debates.

Le Bon’s crowd psychology and post-truth

2021 ◽  
Vol 64 (1) ◽  
pp. 149-160
Author(s):  
Dusko Prelevic
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Deliberative Democracy ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Technological Innovations ◽  
Psychological Mechanisms ◽  
Public Debates ◽  
Crowd Psychology ◽  
Philosophical Community

The phenomenon of post-truth, in which truth (or facts or the best scientific evidence) is brushed aside in public debates, has recently caught the eye of many philosophers, who typically see it as a threat to deliberative democracy. In this paper, it is argued that Gustave Le Bon?s remarks on crowd psychology, which had been very popular in past (and brushed aside later on), might be relevant for a better understanding of psychological mechanisms that lead to post-truth. According to Le Bon, crowds are often irrational, whereas those who try to convince them to do something should use specific techniques of persuasion, such as affirmation, repetition, contagion and prestige, of which the last one can be undermined either by fiasco (the fastest way), or by critique (a bit slower, but nonetheless effective way). It is the age of posttruth that goes towards the neutralization of any critique (Le Bon himself considered such neutralization devastating for democratic societies), which has been, according to some authors, affected to a great extent by technological innovations in media, such as social media that some authors consider anti-social due to their negative impact on society. I argue that Le Bon?s insights might be useful to members of scientific and philosophical community in their attempts to eliminate the spreading of quasi-scientific views in public discourse.

The Legal Construction of the Notion of Anti-White Racism in France

2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 136-155
Author(s):  
Mathias Möschel
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Critical Race ◽  
White Racism ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Limited Success ◽  
Critical Whiteness ◽  
Public Debates ◽  
Legal Construction

This article focuses on the legal construction of the notion of anti-White racism in France. By analyzing cases litigated under criminal law, it describes how a right-wing NGO has been promoting this notion via a litigation strategy since the late 1980s, initially with only limited success. Public debates in mainstream media in the 2000s and intervention by more traditional antiracist NGOs in courts have since contributed to a creeping acceptance of anti-White racism both within courtrooms and in broader public discourse. This increased recognition of anti-White racism is highly problematic from a critical race and critical Whiteness perspective.

The Problem of Political Ignorance

2021 ◽  
pp. 156-187
Author(s):  
Maxime Lepoutre
Keyword(s):  
Social Group ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Political Information ◽  
Group Cognition ◽  
Political Issues ◽  
Political Beliefs ◽  
Public Debates ◽  
Group Identities ◽  
Epistemic Function ◽  
Scientific Questions

This chapter turns to the problem that political ignorance poses for democratic public discourse. It is often held (1) that ordinary citizens know too little to engage competently in public debates about politics and (2) that, because of the influence of group identity on political beliefs (or ‘group cognition’), this problematic ignorance is here to stay. The chapter argues that this influential worry fails, because it misunderstands the epistemic function of social group identities. The experiences involved in being a member of a particular social group are epistemically useful for deciding whose political judgment and what political information to trust. This is true even when it comes to scientific questions that bear on political issues, and even when people are dogmatically committed to their group perspectives. So, group cognition constitutes a useful tool for managing and overcoming political ignorance—and, by extension, for defusing the threat it raises for public discourse.

scholarly journals ‘Embarrassing the State’: The ‘Ordinary’ Prisoner Rights Movement in Ireland, 1972–6

2019 ◽  
Vol 55 (2) ◽  
pp. 388-410
Author(s):  
Oisín Wall
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Political Prisoners ◽  
Penal System ◽  
Small Minority ◽  
Prisoner Rights ◽  
Penal Reform ◽  
Public Debates ◽  
Emerging Issues

This article explores the early years of the campaign for ‘ordinary’, not politically-aligned, prisoners’ rights in Ireland. It argues that this campaign has often been overshadowed by the activities of ‘political prisoners’, who only constituted a small minority of prisoners in the period. The article follows the development and changing tactics of the ordinary prisoners’ movement, through the rise and fall of the Prisoners’ Union (PU) (1972–3) and into the early years of the Prisoners’ Rights Organisation (PRO) (1973–6), which would become the longest-lasting and most vocal penal reform organisation in Ireland, until the formation of the Irish Penal Reform Trust in 1994. It argues that the movement constantly adapted its tactics to address emerging issues and opportunities. Ultimately, it contends that by 1976 the PRO was an increasingly legitimate voice in Ireland’s public discourse on prisons. It shows that, although the campaign did not achieve any major penal reforms in this period, it had a significant impact on public debates about prisons, prisoners’ mental health, the failures of the penal system, and prisoners’ entitlement to human rights.

Toward a Methodology and Public Discourse of Christological Concreteness: Lessons from a Discussion of Health Care Rationing in the United States

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-364
Author(s):  
Nicholas R. Brown
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
The United States ◽  
Christian Ethics ◽  
Public Theology ◽  
Health Care Rationing ◽  
Public Debates ◽  
Care Rationing ◽  
Public Health Expenditures

Abstract A recent passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has once again sparked fierce public debates within the United States over the permissibility of health care rationing. Unfortunately only a handful of public theologians have addressed this issue, and those who have often fail to draw upon Jesus’ ethical praxis. This article corrects this lacuna by offering a clarifying theological analysis and defence of one form of rationing, known as Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER), through a proposed method of Christological concreteness. The article begins by outlining which CER provisions are included in the ACA, and then discusses how they will re-shape US public health expenditures in the future. An examination of Richard Land’s and Jim Wallis’s theological evaluations of rationing is used to demonstrate that, while each is helpful in some respects, both omit the moral saliency of Jesus. To correct these shortcomings, the article draws upon some recent methodological trends within Christian ethics and devises a Christological method based upon a synthesis of integrative, canonical, reiterative, embodied and incarnational variables. Finally, a critical analysis of Allen Verhey’s discussion of health care rationing explains why his approach not only provides a compelling justification for using CER but also a preferable approach for public theology.

“Clandestino”

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 203-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabio Quassoli
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
Crucial Role ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Basic Strategy ◽  
Centre Of Gravity ◽  
Everyday Activities ◽  
Public Debates ◽  
And Control ◽  
Immigration Management

Over the last twenty years, the management of a series of complex questions raised by the growing presence of foreign immigrants in Italy has been carried out via the “invention” of specific social problems and their accompanying discourse categories. From its first appearance the term “clandestino” (or irregular immigrant) has assumed a dual significance as a concept widely adopted in public discourse and as the pillar of an ideology that comprises a very specific set of political positions regarding the management of immigration. Moreover, to the extent that the clandestino was interpreted as a threat or problem to be eliminated or solved, it very rapidly became a discursive and practical focal point for the institutions that play a crucial role in immigration management and control. Drawing on my research from late 1990s on immigration policies and control in Italy, I show how and to what extent some institutional everyday activities of the police have been reshaped by discourses and practice that focus on dealing with irregular immigrants. This reorganization contributed to generating a complex web of knowledge, discourses and practices that produced the essential vocabulary and the hegemonic frameworks for public debates about immigration in Italy. It also makes the need and urgency to cope with irregular immigration both a political centre of gravity and a basic strategy to reproduce social order.

scholarly journals The Discursive Appeal to Solidarity and Partisan Journalism in Europe’s Migration Crisis

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 187-197
Author(s):  
Stefan Wallaschek
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
Political Orientation ◽  
The Political ◽  
Central Position ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Debates ◽  
Common European Asylum System ◽  
Migration Crisis ◽  
Political Solidarity ◽  
Strategic Framing

The article analyses the discursive appeal to solidarity in the mass media during the unfolding of Europe’s migration crisis. Solidarity was claimed by numerous actors in the public discourse to legitimise political decisions and mobilise public opinion. While it seems that the call for solidarity was shared by many actors, media studies show the ‘partisan journalism’ of media outlets. Thus, the political orientation of media outlets influences their coverage of public debates. Hence, to what extent do different quality newspapers cover the same solidarity claims in times of crisis? In order to answer this question, the crisis coverage of two German and two Irish newspapers with centre-left and centre-right political orientations is examined via the discourse network methodology. Germany is selected due to high political parallelism and a strong affectedness by the crisis, while Ireland is selected because of low political parallelism and a weak affectedness by the migration crisis. The findings demonstrate that partisan journalism persists during Europe’s migration crisis. Especially German party actors are present in both countries, underpinning the central position of Germany. Regarding the appeal to solidarity, political solidarity claims prevail in all four newspapers, indicating the political-institutional asymmetry in the Common European Asylum System. The study contributes to the strategic framing of concepts in public debates and demonstrates that the left-right distinction of media outlets is hardly affected by the migration crisis.

Accounting for Democracy: Excessive Subjects in a State of Consensus

boundary 2 ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 115-144
Author(s):  
L. Elena Delgado
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
Popular Sovereignty ◽  
Excess Function ◽  
Social Unrest ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Debates ◽  
The Face ◽  
Conditions Of Possibility ◽  
And Function

In the face of the public debates and protests fueled by Spain's persistent economic, social, and institutional crisis (2008–present), the country's politicians and media have consistently identified these debates and protests—in a word, social unrest—with three phenomena: nationalism, populism, and feminism. In my essay, I begin by showing how Spanish public discourse tends to situate all three on a single continuum, identifying their intersections in negative terms as a potentially disruptive excess that must be controlled, if not eliminated, to avoid a crisis of democracy. The second part of my essay moves to a theoretically informed reflection on the nature and function of political elements categorized as “excessive” in consensus democracies. Drawing on C. Lefort, J. Rancière, C. Mouffe, W. Brown. B. Honig, and L. Grattan, among others, I delve into how these perceived forms of excess function as dissonant remainders that account for the paradoxes of popular sovereignty, signaling its limits as well as its conditions of possibility.

scholarly journals The Diverging Presence of Youth in Public Discourse: A Comparative Analysis of Youth-Related Debates Across Countries and Issue Fields

2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (5) ◽  
pp. 574-590
Author(s):  
Christian Lahusen ◽  
Johannes Kiess
Keyword(s):  
Public Discourse ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Opinion Formation ◽  
The Public ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Public Debates ◽  
Policy Fields ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Almost All ◽  
Criminal Matters

Youth is a recurrent topic of public debates, particularly because youth features in almost all issue fields discussed in mass media, ranging from educational and cultural to criminal matters. However, previous research has highlighted that youth is not necessarily actively involved in raising its own voice within the public sphere, which gives cause for concerns about the representation of youth in public discourses and thus in democratic opinion formation. This article wishes to critically assess the proposition that young people are objects of public discourses rather than active participants. For this purpose, it will analyze public statements reported in newspapers of nine countries (Germany, France, Greece, Italy, Poland, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom). The analysis makes conceptual use of claims-making analysis and tries to identify contextual factors that determine the extent to which youth actors actively participate in public discourses. In particular, we wish to assess whether discursive inclusion or exclusion of youth is patterned along countries and/or policy fields. Our findings show that policy fields are the most important contextual factors. Moreover, considering claims and actors, public debates about youth are rather similar between the nine countries. This indicates that public debates about youth are patterned by a similar, cross-national differentiation along policy domains.

scholarly journals What does “language” mean for its users? Constructing a theoretical model of a notion of language in the public space

2016 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Vuk Vukotić
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Model ◽  
Public Space ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Public Discourse ◽  
Language Ideologies ◽  
The Other ◽  
Cognitive Approach ◽  
The Public ◽  
Language Variety ◽  
Public Debates

Research into language ideologies is a fast growing field of research, especially within its critical paradigm, highlighting reproductions of dominant and often repressive ideologies about language (racism, sexism, nationalism, etc.). On the other hand, the other, cognitive paradigm has contributed to the field of language ideology by way of closer insights into the world of the speaker, providing a more subtle understanding of the cognitive processes at work behind attitudes to language and ideologies of language. Some of the studies employing the cognitive approach have also looked to how “language” is conceptualised in public discourse. In spite of the differences in the material and the foci in these studies, re-occurring patterns have begun to emerge. This paper offers a systematic review of these studies in order to answer the question “What elements of notions of language have been identified in the research on public debates about language?”. The aim of this review is to create a theoretical model of the “public notions of language”, which would explain differences in understanding of language in public debates. A total of 12 studies examining public notions of language have been collected, analysed and their findings synthesized into a model of a public notion of language. Three key elements construct the notion of language: (1) the function of language, (2) the identification of linguistic expertise, or who the bearer of true/good language is and (3) the identification of language variety which is representative of the language users.

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