scholarly journals Muslims in Copenhagen: Social Cohesion or a Parallel Society? Results from an Empirical Survey 2008–09

2014 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mustafa Hussain

The Nørrebro sub-district of Copenhagen, where 14% of the population belong to ethnic minorities, mainly Muslim, has stood on the Danish media’s agenda for many years as a problem-ridden area, developing into a parallel society with ethnic ghettos, crime and deviancy among the second generation and lack of social cohesion and integration. This article introduces results from the survey ‘At Home in Europe: Muslims in the European Cities’ commissioned by the Open Society Institute, which examines the current policy and patterns of Muslim integration in eleven municipal districts of the seven metropolises of the EU countries. It argues that when measured across a range of parameters to ascertain the social, cultural and economic integration of the Muslim minorities, the empirical data and the documentary evidence gathered from, and about, the sub-district (2008-9) contradict the political claims and the media rhetoric of a parallel society.

2006 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kjetil Sandvik

Abstract Computer games play an important role in the cultural daily life of children, teenagers and adults. This has led to arguments both in the EU and the Nordic countries that computer games should be included in the culture political strategies for financial funding as well as the development of talents for the game industry. Still this has yet to result in culture political efforts and progressive strategies on a larger scale. On the contrary the political initiatives tend to result in restrictions more than efforts being made to encourage and develop the game industry. This article draws a picture of the current culture political situation and criticizes the media skeptical debate for making a poor starting point for formulating a progressive political strategy. It would be more fruitful to have a closer look at the specific characteristics of computer games and how computer games are being played and the role they are playing in the social life of different groups of player. The article outlines ananalytical apparatus for evaluation of quality in computer games.


Author(s):  
Pradeep K. Chhibber ◽  
Rahul Verma

Ideology is transmitted to citizens through multiple pathways, each of which provide heuristic cues to ordinary voters. Citizens form their political views through the efforts of political parties and the political elite; their socialization, especially the kind of education they receive; the media; and through their activities in the social organization including religious associations. In India, those who are more religiously active, get their news from local and vernacular media, and do not speak English language are less likely to support either an active role for the state in transforming social norms or making special provision for some groups. Indians who are members of civil society, consume English-language media, and speak English are more likely to favor statism and recognition.


Subject The non-appearance of an expected EU anti-corruption report. Significance The European Commission’s cancellation of its second report on anti-corruption efforts across member-states and EU institutions removes a key benchmark against which to hold European governments to account at a time when several are attempting to roll back anti-corruption reforms and disable checks and balances. Given the political sensitivity of the first report, the move also feeds populist criticisms that the EU itself is prone to corruption and unwilling to expose itself to scrutiny. Impacts Populist governments appear to be learning from one another that they can remove limits on their power. This will allow interest groups to entrench their political and economic dominance, hindering economic growth in the long run. The US president’s attacks on parts of the media for ‘fake news’ may encourage use of anti-establishment rhetoric to discredit critics.


Author(s):  
Yana Kybich

June 2016 was marked by a landmark event - the so-called Brexit (literally from Britain’s exit ) – a referendum in which 52% of the population voted for the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union and only 48% - against. The significant changes that took place in the UK in the summer of 2016, finally split British society into those who are for and against leaving the European Union. The British media acted as a platform for political debates and discussions on the key issue of Britain’s stay in the EU. The most powerful media conglomerate, of course, had a decisive influence on the mood of those who voted, intensifying social polarization, which was reflected in the results of the fateful referendum. Elements of the British media played a key role in the debate over the referendum on the country’s membership in the European Union. The exit vote was influenced by a long campaign against the EU and against migration from EU countries. Throughout the campaign, virtually all media are in flagrant violation of journalistic standards of objectivity, fairness, and accuracy, becoming essentially propaganda bodies. The relevance of the study is due to the fundamental changes in British society related to the Brexit process, as well as the importance for politicians and the public of understanding public opinion and the media about Brexit. In addition, it is important to see how the view of Brexit has changed. It is necessary to find out the benefits, priorities and understanding of different scenarios, the driving forces behind these attitudes, and whether they change in response to statements and remarks by politicians and public figures. Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union is important for the whole world, as it affects the changing geopolitics of the whole of Europe. This topic is important for understanding the study of the political preferences of British society and the British media during the Brexit process. It can be stated unequivocally that both Brexit and the subsequent US election campaign in 2016 showed another example of skillful speculation in facts and figures, the successful creation and dissemination of unverified “viral information” through the media, which in the era of telecommunications has become a particularly effective tool for manipulation of public sentiment. The example of Brexit has demonstrated how to take the success of such campaigns to a new level, using all types of media (from traditional to electronic, including social networks), through which you can introduce into society binary oppositions that divide it, to introduce into the information space certain political figures, to popularize the necessary moods and slogans, to simplify the political process to the level of a show.


Author(s):  
Mary Daly

Social policy has a particular character and set of associated politics in the European Union (EU) context. There is a double contestation involved: the extent of the EU’s agency in the field and the type of social policy model pursued. The former is contested because social policy is typically and traditionally a matter of national competence and the latter because the social policy model is crucial to economic and market development. Hence, social policy has both functional and political significance, and EU engagement risks member states’ capacity to control the social fate of their citizens and the associated resources, authority, and power that come with this capacity. The political contestations are at their core territorially and/or social class based; the former crystalizes how wide and extensive the EU authority should be in social policy and the latter a left/right continuum in regard to how redistributive and socially interventionist EU social policy should be. Both are the subject of a complicated politics at EU level. First, there is a diverse set of agents involved, not just member states and the “political” EU institutions (Parliament and Council) but the Commission is also an important “interested” actor. This renders institutional politics and jockeying for power typical features of social policymaking in the EU. Second, one has to break down the monolith of the EU institutions and recognize that within and among them are actors or units that favor a more left or right position on social policy. Third, actors’ positions do not necessarily align on the two types of contestation (apart perhaps from the social nongovernmental organizations and to a lesser extent employers and business interests). Some actors who favor an extensive role for social policy in general are skeptical about the role of the EU in this regard (e.g., trade unions, some social democratic parties) while others (some sectors of the Commission) wish for a more expansive EU remit in social policy but also support a version of social policy pinned tightly to market and economic functions. In this kind of context, the strongest and most consistent political thrust is toward a type of EU social policy that is most clearly oriented to enabling the Union’s economic and market-related objectives. Given this and the institutional set-up, the default position in EU social policy is for a market-making social policy orientation on the one hand and a circumscribed role for the EU in social policy on the other.


2019 ◽  
Vol 64 (5) ◽  
pp. 620-637
Author(s):  
Lorenzo Bosi ◽  
Anna Lavizzari ◽  
Stefania Voli

Recent scientific studies have reached the near-unanimous conclusion that the media produce a stereotypical representation of young people. However, research in this area has not often scrutinized whether there are any significant differences in the coverage of the subject matter. Notably, this article examines whether the political leaning of newspapers has any impact on the levels of plurality in the news coverage of youth. On the basis of political claim analyses of six newspapers from three countries (Greece, Italy, and Spain), we find that the coverage of youth in the public debate is very similar if we compare center-right to center-left newspapers. This suggests that the social construction of the concept of youth dominates in the adult world, regardless of any political differences. Nonetheless, differences emerge when young people are given the opportunity to speak for themselves; center-left newspapers are more likely to recognize the agency of, and give a voice to, young people.


Author(s):  
Boris P. Guseletov ◽  
◽  

The article is dedicated to the analysis of the European Union’s Eastern Partnership program in the post-COVID period. It considers the main features of that program in modern conditions and further prospects for its de- velopment, taking into account the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic for the European Union and the countries participating in this program. The author analyzes the EU leadership attitude to the individual participants of the program and identifies priorities in relation to the various countries represen- ted in it. To overcome the social and economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, the European Commission decided to provide financial assistance to the participating countries, but the amount of the assistance for individual countries depended on the state of relations between the European Union and the leadership of those countries. It is proved in the article that the European Union currently has the most favorable relations with three countries parti- cipating in the program: Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, which have openly declared a policy of rapprochement with the European Union in the political and economic fields. The author outlines positions of all the countries and their expectations of participating in the program in the nearest future as well as in the longer term.


Author(s):  
Margarita SHOPOVA ◽  
Tihomir VARBANOV ◽  
Evgeni OVCHINNIKOV

The article clarifies the essence of the indicators that characterise the principles on which the European Pillar of Social Rights is built, and the information provision of their statistical survey is presented. Official statistics published by Eurostat are used. The objective internal regularities of the time series for Bulgaria for the period 2005-2018 are established by using the autodetermination coefficient, while the viability of constructing univariate models for forecasting purposes is assessed. A cluster analysis has been applied for 2010 and 2018, as a result of which homogenous groups of EU countries have been established and the factors most significant for their formation have been identified. The survey is a preliminary assessment of both the dynamics of the indicators for Bulgaria and the social cohesion in the EU. The derived results can serve as information and analytical bases both for identifying appropriate methods for convergence analysis and for revealing the possibilities of cluster analysis for its evaluation.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yahya Fatah

This study deals with the relationship between the political field and the media field especially the role of the social media platforms on the political transformation recently in Kurdistan region of Iraq. This is done through a scientific and theoretical study about the controversial relationship between both politic and media and by directing a group of questions concerning this subject to the media experts and socialists in both of Sulaymaniyah and Polytechnic University of Sulaymaniyah. Finally the researcher reaches a group of results, of which: most of the sample members see that the social media platforms is a suitable environment to express and oppose the authority in the Kurdistan region but it is also see that the social media platforms causes stirring up strife and chaos in the region and they also see that it encourages violence which leads to burning party headquarters and governmental institutes in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. On the other hand, most of the sample people see that the role of the religious leaders is stronger than the role of the social media on the community in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.


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