scholarly journals Fake news, disinformation and the democratic state

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-122
Author(s):  
Julian Richards
Keyword(s):  
Political Process ◽  
Fake News ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Far Right ◽  
Russian Government ◽  
The West ◽  
Democratic State ◽  
Scottish Independence ◽  
The Uk

From the 2014 referendum in the UK on Scottish independence, a number of political leaders in the West have accused the Russian government of industrial-scale organised disinformation, designed to undermine the democratic process. A number of allegations have also suggested that the Kremlin has been providing financial and other aid to far-right groups in the West to disrupt the political process. In this analysis, the case study of the UK is taken in the period 2014-20. An examination is taken of current research on the scale and effect of organised Russian disinformation strategies; and the emerging official narrative in the UK government about how to deal with the problem. This narrative reveals a complex interplay between defending democracy, while maintaining a “hands-off” approach and ensuring that tech business is welcomed.

scholarly journals Making politics educational: the experience of the Scottish referendum on independence

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 163 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim Crowther
Keyword(s):  
Political Process ◽  
Political Engagement ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
Ordinary People ◽  
Opting Out ◽  
Mainstream Media ◽  
Scottish Government ◽  
Scottish Independence ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Unusual Situation

<p class="Body1">In 2014 the issue of constitutional change in the UK brought about by an agreement between the UK and Scottish Government, for a referendum on Scottish independence, created the motivation for widespread political engagement with the formal political process. Scottish citizens – including newly enfranchised 16 and 17 year olds – were debating, discussing and disagreeing about opting out of one of the world’s richest countries. This was an unusual situation and one that nearly happened despite a hostile corporate, political and mainstream media response to the demand for independence. It would be a mistake, however, to assume that this movement for change was the result of narrow-minded nationalism. Although the Referendum result was that Scotland should remain in the UK the process also produced widespread politicization of ordinary people. The cultural politics of communities had engaged with the political culture of the state and the dialectic between the two generated educational experiences and opened up new political possibilities.</p><div><p class="Body1"> </p></div>

Epilogue

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Hearn
Keyword(s):  
National Identity ◽  
Party Systems ◽  
Constitutional Change ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Political Events ◽  
Scottish Independence ◽  
The Uk

The epilogue pulls back from the study presented to place it in the context of general patterns of national identity and recent and on going constitutional change in the UK. It explores how this case study relates to recent political events that have happened since the time of fieldwork, including the Scottish Independence Referendum of 2014, the UK Brexit Referendum of 2016, and the changing compositions of party systems in Scotland and the UK as a whole. It suggests that these events, like the formation of HBOS and its crisis, reflect deep and rapid economic, political and social changes, and illustrate the human struggle to make sense of and act towards an often imponderable future.

scholarly journals An Islamic University in the West and the Question of Modern Authenticity

Numen ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 403-421
Author(s):  
Kirstine Sinclair
Keyword(s):  
Faculty Members ◽  
The West ◽  
Professional Careers ◽  
Muslim Minority ◽  
Muslims In The West ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Muslim Minorities ◽  
Participatory Observation ◽  
Contemporary Britain

AbstractThe aim of this article is to discuss how Islamic universities in the West facilitate and condition the formation of modern Muslim subjectivities in minority contexts, with an emphasis on the institutions as providers of guidelines for good, Muslim minority life. This is done through a case study of Cambridge Muslim College in the UK. Its values and aims are explored through interviews with the founder and dean, faculty members and students, and through participatory observation. Cambridge Muslim College sees itself as a mediator between Islamic traditions and modern Muslims in the West, and as responsible for engaging in the development of both Muslim minorities and the wider society within which it operates. The questions guiding the study are the following: What role do Islamic universities play in shaping modern Muslim subjectivities in the West? How does Cambridge Muslim College combine understandings of authenticity with preparing their students for professional careers in Britain? The study shows that the understanding of authenticity that is encouraged by college dean Shaykh Abdal Hakim provides an important tool for the students as they strive to form meaningful selves and careers in contemporary Britain. Thus, references to authentic Islam is used to support the development of both working and moral modern subjects.

scholarly journals Indices of Bad Governance by African Political Leaders: The Case Study of Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 1506-1514
Author(s):  
Blaise Ngambinzoni Kombeto ◽  
Romain Bakola Dzango ◽  
Modeste Ndaba Modeawi ◽  
Gédéon Bongo Ngiala ◽  
Muhammad Ridwan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Democratic Republic ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
The People ◽  
Democratic State ◽  
Republic Of The Congo ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual

Marcel SONY LabouTansi, the author of the novel "The Shameful State", denounces the dictatorial system often practiced by most African leaders in the management of the "res publica". He paints the barbarity of man in relation to his fellow man. It also presents the duality between the traditional society characterized by democracy, peace ... and the modern society based on dictatorship in which the government behaves as a state, as absolute master, and the governed in the eternal "- mute", "voiceless". It invites the recipients to renounce to the bad principle in order to establish democracy, a system that respects the individual freedom of the people, that of human rights, of professional promotion for the harmonious development of a sovereign and democratic State. The novel "The Shameful State" unfolds the spiral of the unpleasant reign of a megalomaniacal, criminal and lustful president, Colonel Martillimi Lopez, who "shamefully" manages power and ends with the crying and gnashing of his constituents' teeth. After having committed: pedophilia, adultery, assassination of opponents, he was deposed by his relatives who created an insurrection and was forced to hand over power to civilians to return to his native village.

scholarly journals Britain First and the UK Independence Party: Social Media and Movement-Party Dynamics

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Davidson ◽  
Mabel Berezin
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Far Right ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Online Sources

Social movement scholars have recently turned their attention to the interactions between political parties and social movements, but little is known about how social media have impacted these relationships, despite widespread adoption of these technologies. We present a case study of the relationship between Britain First, a far-right anti-Muslim social movement, and the U.K. Independence Party, the Eurosceptic political party that spearheaded the Brexit campaign. The movement appeared marginal in the press but it dominated social media, and used this presence to support to the party. We examine the dynamics of the relationship between these groups from 2013 until 2017, drawing upon data from social media, newspapers, and other online sources, and focusing both interactions on between elites and rank-and-file supporters. Our findings illustrate how far-right groups have used new technologies to generate an unprecedented amount of popular support and to attempt to influence the political mainstream.

scholarly journals ‘Doing What is Right’: Researching Intimacy, Work and Family Life in Glasgow, 1945-1960

2006 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 66-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sue Innes ◽  
Linda McKie
Keyword(s):  
Work And Family ◽  
Family Roles ◽  
Paid Work ◽  
The West ◽  
Male Breadwinner ◽  
Low Incomes ◽  
Family Theory ◽  
Post War ◽  
The Uk

Understanding discursive shifts over the twentieth century in relation to family roles, paid work and care is essential to any critical review of contemporary family theory and policies. This paper charts aspects of these shifts. An analysis of case records of the Royal Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (RSSPCC), 1945 to 1960 is presented. Based upon these data we reflect upon the construction of the working-class family in the West of Scotland and draw upon one case study to illustrate issues further. This post-war period was one of rapid social and technological change. It is commonly perceived as a period of segregated gender roles, and in the UK a predominant male-breadwinner family model. The RSSPCC case records suggest that family lives and forms, particularly for those on low incomes, were diverse throughout this period. Although prosecutions for cruelty and neglect are dominant in perceptions of the society, most of its work was in material assistance, advice and surveillance. This latter aspect is considered in this paper.

COLLABORATION AND THE COMPOSER: CASE STUDIES FROM THE END OF THE 2OTH CENTURY

Tempo ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 61 (240) ◽  
pp. 28-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sam Hayden ◽  
Luke Windsor
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Historical Data ◽  
Collaborative Work ◽  
The West ◽  
Compositional Practice ◽  
The Aesthetic ◽  
The Uk

The folk view of composition is often that of an isolated, possibly unhinged genius, struggling alone at the piano or desk. However, in this article we will investigate the collaborative aspects of compositional life, showing how such an individualistic model of the composer is both accurate and inaccurate, and how this paradox is played out in current attempts to valorize collaborative work in composition. Although we intend some of the observations and conclusions from this article to generalize, we are fully aware that such a case-study can only really be illustrative and provocative. Given that this is the case we will finish by attempting to make some general points about the aesthetic and social contradictions which this study has brought to light. Our concern in this article is more prospective than retrospective: although we will refer to some historical data, we aim to reflect mainly on contemporary compositional practice in the West, and particularly the UK.

Perpetuating Britishness

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 729-750 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewan Crawford
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Scottish Parliament ◽  
Decision To Stay ◽  
Scottish Independence ◽  
The Uk ◽  
British State

In 1999 a devolved Scottish Parliament was established within the United Kingdom following a referendum two years earlier. The current governing party in that Parliament – the SNP – held a referendum on Scottish independence in September 2014, which resulted in a decision to stay within the UK. However, during the referendum campaign promises were made by the main UK parties to transfer further power away from the British Parliament at Westminster to the Scottish Parliament in the hope this would satisfy demands for greater self-government in Scotland. This paper analyses the rhetoric of the leaders of Britain’s two main political parties in an effort to detect strategies used to construct and perpetuate Britishness in the context of devolution and a threat to the British state. It finds a number of discursive strategies deployed to promote unity and difference to (non-British) others. It also suggests the apparent need by British political leaders to deploy such British-constructivist strategies involves avoiding even acknowledging the reality of a major constitutional reform such as devolution and therefore political difference between the nations of the UK.

scholarly journals BRITAIN FIRST AND THE UK INDEPENDENCE PARTY: SOCIAL MEDIA AND MOVEMENT-PARTY DYNAMICS*

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 485-510 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Davidson ◽  
Mabel Berezin
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Political Parties ◽  
Social Movement ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Far Right ◽  
The Press ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Online Sources

Social movement scholars have recently turned their attention to the interactions between political parties and social movements, but little is known about how social media have impacted these relationships, despite widespread adoption of these technologies. We present a case study of the relationship between Britain First, a far-right anti-Muslim social movement, and the U.K. Independence Party, the Eurosceptic political party that spearheaded the Brexit campaign. The movement appeared marginal in the press but it dominated social media, using this presence to support to the party. We examine the dynamics of the relationship between these groups from 2013 until 2017, drawing upon data from social media, newspapers, and other online sources, and focusing on interactions between elites and rank-and-file supporters. Our findings illustrate how far-right groups have used new technologies to generate an unprecedented amount of popular support and to attempt to influence the political mainstream.

scholarly journals Political Aspects in Educational Leadership: A Case Study in ASEAN Economic Community Era

Humaniora ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 303
Author(s):  
Ferry Doringin ◽  
Kristianus Oktriono
Keyword(s):  
Political Process ◽  
Educational Leaders ◽  
Research Problem ◽  
The Political ◽  
Political Leader ◽  
Economic Community ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Asean Economic Community ◽  
Why Questions

The objective of this research was to see the political aspects in the success of educational leader using qualitative case study method. Leaders must realize their roles as a CEO, as an academician, and as a political leader. The research problem was why did the educational leaders had difficulty to take their role as political leaders and how to inspire them doing the role? The research applied a qualitative method by using “how” and “why” questions for analysis. There were some complicated issues in educational activities that were difficult to be solved but became easier if educational leaders have skills in persuading, negotiating, and using political process. The significant of the study was to inspire the educational leaders that they did not only take their role as the CEO, or the academician, but also the role as political leaders to be more successful in leading. Vocational and Training institutions in Indonesia face some challenges to be successful in ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) era. The leaders of the institutions will be more successful if they understand the political roles, political process, and political techniques.

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