The Traumatic Mark in Invisible Man

Invisible Man is the representative work of Ralph Ellison, a famous contemporary American black writer, which mainly describes the growing process of a black man. The aim of the thesis is to analyze the racial trauma that the protagonist experienced at school, in the factory and political group, the three kinds of symptoms after the trauma-hyperarousal, intrusion and constriction, and the result that the protagonist cannot recover from his trauma due to racial discrimination.

To Join or Not to Join? Contextualising the Motives of Organisational Membership in the Czech Republic and East and West Germany

This article investigates sources of motivation for organisational engagement in different sociopolitical contexts. On the grounds of my own qualitative data, this text aims to answer the main research question: ‘Why do Czech and German university students get involved in political and civic organisations?’ The analysis also shows how the perception and understanding of politics differ according to the types of political motivation. The research draws upon a unique dataset of 60 interviews with university students conducted in former East (Jena) and West Germany (Mannheim, Cologne), and the Czech Republic (Prague, Ostrava and Olomouc). The results identify the notion of influence as a core factor for joining a political group and forming political commitment among the young generation. The article introduces a personal typology of political motivation, which extends existing theories and frames them in the pathways to politics of young Czech and German activists. It distinguishes three main motivations: idealistic, doer and pragmatic with a variety of subtypes. The paper elaborates on classical typologies refraining from membership. These outcomes have practical implications for the recruitment of new party members.

The role of political devotion in sharing partisan misinformation

Online misinformation poses a significant threat to global challenges such as pandemics and climate change. To understand what drives individuals to share misinformation, we conducted two pre-registered experiments with conservatives and far-right supporters in the US and Spain (N = 1,609) and a neuroimaging study with far-right supporters in Spain (N = 36). Individuals who felt their personal identity was fused with their political group were more likely to share misinformation, especially around sacred moral issues (e.g., immigration and nationalism). Far-right supporters showed increased activity in brain regions associated with theory of mind in response to posts with sacred values, highlighting the social nature of misinformation sharing. Analytical thinking was unrelated to misinformation sharing around sacred values (vs. non-sacred values) and fact-checks had little or no effect, especially among hyper-partisans. We provide evidence that political devotion plays a key role in misinformation sharing and discuss practical implications of our findings.

A database about the Members of European Parliament: Contributions and limitations of automated data collection in the study of European political elites

Over the past 25 years, a field of research concerning the careers of Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) has developed. Drawing on a massive amount of accessible open data, we have assembled an updated database including all MEPs from 1979 to September 2019. In this note, we describe the data collection processes and the construction of the database. Then, we propose an application concerning the turnover at the EP following the 2019 European elections. The longitudinal perspective provided by the database allows us to describe this turnover, which is important, but varies greatly according to nationality and political group, and does not fundamentally alter the division of parliamentary power. Finally, we identify some limitations: the lack of data in MEP profiles and difficulties both in the comparison between people from 27 countries and the comparison over a long period (1979–2019). As a result, the article shows that automated data collection can be very useful. However, in the case of individuals, as MEPs, it should be seen as a complementary source to other sources.

The Rise and Fall of Japan’s New Far Right: How Anti-Korean Discourses Went Mainstream

Why has right-wing activism in Japan, despite its persistence throughout the postwar era, only gained significant traction recently? Focusing on the Zaitokukai, an anti-Korean movement in Japan, this article demonstrates how the new Far Right were able to popularize formerly stigmatized right-wing ideas. The Zaitokukai represents a political group distinct from the traditional right and reflective of new Far Right movements spreading worldwide. In Japan, concerns about the growing influence of South Korea and China in the 1980s as well as the decline of left-wing norms opened up a discursive opportunity for the new Far Right. By framing Korean postcolonial minorities as undeserving recipients of social welfare benefits, the Zaitokukai mobilized perceptions of threat that has continued to powerfully influence public perceptions of Koreans even following the group’s organizational decline. While past research has focused on the new Far Right’s political influence, this article stresses their roles as ideological entrepreneurs.

Participation in social leisure activities may benefit mental health particularly among individuals that lack social connectedness at work or school

Purpose Workplace and study environments generally provide opportunities for social connectedness, however, not all individuals in such settings are equally well connected. It is possible that potential mental health benefits of participation in social leisure activities may be greater for individuals that lack social connectedness through a workplace or study environment. This study aims to examine if the association between social leisure activities and mental health is moderated by the degree of social connectedness at work/school. Design/methodology/approach Data stem from 2,406 adults (age range 16-64 years old) from The Danish Mental Health and Well-Being Survey 2016. Validated scales were used to measure mental well-being and depression/anxiety symptoms. Multivariable linear regression analyses were conducted. Findings Participation in social leisure activities (i.e. participation in community/social groups such as a sports association, art club, book club, running group, card game club, cultural or political group) was positively associated with mental well-being and negatively associated with depression/anxiety symptoms. The associations were stronger among individuals feeling less socially connected at work/school and strongest among individuals that were unemployed or not enrolled in education. Originality/value Mental health promotion strategies may focus on promoting social leisure activities especially among unemployed or otherwise socially isolated groups, as well as among individuals that are not well connected at their workplace or school. Workplaces and schools may also monitor employee/student social connectedness and potentially intervene accordingly.

Elections, Election Campaigns, and Democracy

One of the phenomena of the Weimar Republic most in need of explanation is the rapid change from an initially widespread and overwhelming approval of the republic, to vast parts of society turning away from democracy just a few years later. This chapter explores the Reichstag elections and political communication around them as a manifestation of political group affiliations, traditions, and political expectations. Voting rights were expanded significantly, with democratic inclusion taking on new dimensions. However, this did not fundamentally challenge traditional affiliations to political camps. The radicalization of the electorate was a process that largely occurred within the political camps. This resulted in a culture of antagonism becoming more dominant, which, at the same time, clashed with the widespread longing for a homogeneous ‘people’s community’ and organic leadership.

Partisans use emotions as social pressure: Feeling anger and gratitude at exiters and recruits in political groups

Political collective action requires assembling and motivating supporters. Many theories view emotions as functional tools for managing relationships, including within groups. We study what leads citizens to use the emotions anger and gratitude as social pressure. Specifically, we test what determines the use of these emotions to prevent potential exiters from leaving a political group and to encourage potential recruits to join. Because parties are enduring social affiliations (compared to transient or issue-focused groups), we predicted that partisans would express stronger emotions. We tested this proposition in two separate studies—one an observational study featuring a representative sample of US adults and one an experimental study conducted in Denmark. As predicted, people with a partisan mindset, whether naturally occurring or experimentally manipulated, felt more anger and gratitude at potential exiters and recruits. Citizens strive to fortify and expand their ingroups and sometimes use emotions as social pressure to do so.

FOUND: A DEFINITION OF INTELLIGENCE

Intelligence has come to play a pivotal role in the affairs of states and non-state actors in the 21st century. It not only determines the outcome of conflict when it breaks out but also provides critical edge and foresight in military planning and engagements. However, the effective utilization and deployment of intelligence in any strategic environment may be hampered by the lack of a holistic and generally accepted definition of it. The search for a robust definition has not also been helped by the differing views on what should constitute the basic elements of it. To overcome these challenges, this work argues for and provides a holistic definition of intelligence. It uses both qualitative and quantitative methodologies to provide a more robust and holistic definition of intelligence. The work concludes that any acceptable definition of intelligence must contain five key elements: process, data, actionable information, political group and security.