Global knowledge? Cooperation and conflict in the post-hegemonic era: Facing the pandemic crisis

In recent decades, we have witnessed the consolidation of the knowledge society, based on a process of globalization, which promotes the consolidation of the knowledge economy as an emerging paradigm, as well as promoting new dynamics of scientific cooperation, especially from the European Union to the rest of the world. Agreements, summits, and a network of science diplomacy have been set up reflecting the impact of knowledge on new development models. From this process, conceived as a catalyst for value chains based on knowledge intensity, it is possible to glimpse new power conflicts related to other recent conflicts for economic and political hegemony on a global scale. This study aims to analyze countries’ behavior vis-à-vis the global threat of the COVID 19 pandemic, based on the correlation between their ability to face it and their levels of knowledge-based development as a differentiating element in terms of vulnerability. The results show a process where scientific cooperation has given way to a field of geopolitical competition between the actors of the international system, affecting their levels of vulnerability to global threats.

"Risk literacy" and social cleavages: Vulnerability in three acts

Although recent studies show widening socio-economic divisions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many such divisions were already identified as social cleavages. Scholars and observers tend to view the world in a dichotomous manner, overgeneralising their analyses along known cleavages. Therefore, the relevance of our work as scholars is at risk and we, the scholars of the contemporary world, are “vulnerable” to the temptation of ignoring the details, nuances, and complexities. The uneven impact of and recovery from the pandemic is not necessarily binary – for example, a refusal to follow the medical consensus (e.g. social distancing, vaccination) can be observed on both sides of many cleavages. Against such a background, this paper first characterises the pandemic as a medical, socio-economic, and information crisis. With the former two “pillars” resembling the known cleavages, the third pillar goes beyond the physical access to information and deals with the people’s perception of various risks. Such a behavioural angle to the vulnerability – labelled “risk literacy” – highlights the phenomenon of “digital divide” and shows a promising feature as an additional analytical tool. By familiarising ourselves with the people’s varying risk perceptions, we increase our own literacy against the risk of overgeneralisation.

Fighting illiberalism: The role of awareness raising projects

Illiberalism recently became a favorite catchphrase of several political actors around the world. Although not necessarily precise, the term conjures alternative understandings of democracy, by contesting the inherent need of a democratic political system to be intimately tied to liberal values. This lack of precision is often instrumentalized to boost popular support for taking measures leading to discrimination and resisting or even fighting pluralism. This text aims to familiarize the reader with the existing conceptual debates surrounding the concept of illiberalism, while also offering a glimpse into the causes responsible for its popularity. Theoretical knowledge is then juxtaposed with information regarding an awareness raising project aiming to fight illiberalism in countries in Central and Eastern Europe. The conclusion stresses the need for communication and education campaigns regarding the perils of illiberalism, especially in the more fragile democratic contexts of post-communist Europe. Citizens need to be aware of how illiberalism endangers democracy and have at their disposal mechanisms for raising awareness regarding illiberal measures taken by various governments.

Post-Industrial sites and the clash of narratives: The case of the Gdańsk shipyard

This article explores the clash of various narratives around the Gdańsk shipyard, one of the famous examples of a post-industrial heritage site with a significant political past, located in Poland. The analysis is placed within the larger context of contemporary debates on heritage and the specificity of post-industrial sites, showing how vulnerable and fragile foundations such sites may have, as well as how they are susceptible to various manipulations.

Bangladesh healthcare corruption and workforce vulnerability amidst the COVID-19 pandemic

Amidst the pandemic resulting in a global health crisis, Bangladesh was unnerved by the fake COVID-19 test result certificates issued by the private Regent Hospital in Dhaka. The healthcare corruption was exposed when the Il Messaggero (The Messenger) daily newspaper in Rome reported that infected Bangladeshi migrants were moving undetected throughout the city and were thus a potential health risk. What is the impact of healthcare corruption during a pandemic for the vulnerable people of a developing country in a globalized economy? This article assesses the plight of the Bangladeshi migrant labor force and the ready-made garment sector domestic work force within the framework of vulnerability interdependence, discussing the democratic consolidation context, the environment that led to the issuance of fake healthcare certificates and the potential implications for tackling corruption.

Opportunities and challenges of contemporary corruption research: An interview with Donatella Della Porta

This is an edited and revised version of an interview recorded in September 2021, which served as closing remarks for the 3rd edition of the Research Methods School on Corruption and Anti-Corruption Analysis (CORAN), Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon (Portugal), 27-30 September 2021. The event was organized jointly with the Centre for International Cooperation and Development Studies (IDC) of the University of Bucharest, as part of the 7th edition of the International Interdisciplinary Conference of Political Research SCOPE: Science of Politics. The notes and specific references were added to support especially younger researchers who may not be very familiar with the field or with certain past events.

What next for the studies of Political Science as a discipline? A tentative research agenda

This text is an edited version of the opening remarks that Thibaud Boncourt, Past President of the Research Committee 33 (The Study of Political Science as a Discipline) of the International Political Science Association (IPSA) and associate professor at University Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne / Centre Européen de Sociologie et de Science Politique (CESSP), gave at the special panel “The Future of the Studies of Political Science as a Discipline” sponsored by IPSA-RC33 at the 7th international interdisciplinary conference of political research SCOPE: Science of Politics (University of Bucharest, 20-24 September 2021, www.scienceofpolitics.eu). The event was organized and hosted by the Centre for the International Cooperation and Development Studies (IDC) of the Department of Comparative Governance and European Studies, Faculty of Political Science, University of Bucharest, and gathered participants from several countries on all continents, via a virtual meeting. The aim of the panel was to contribute to the global conversation on the current state of political science as a discipline, as well as to discuss the practical means through which IPSA-RC33 can contribute to it and to support the work of political scientists worldwide.

The Romanian National Television as part of the communist propaganda apparatus during the 1970s

To legitimize its actions and to control the population, the Romanian Communist Party (PCR) worked constantly to impose its vision, with the propaganda apparatus acting intensely during both the period of Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, as well as during the reign of his successor, Nicolae Ceaușescu. From its establishment in 1956, the Romanian National Television (TVR) had been one of the instruments through which the voice of the communist authorities had been heard, both literally and figuratively. In this study I investigate the evolution of TVR as a propaganda tool of the communist regime during the 1970s, with a focus on the evolution of the propaganda programmes and on the main requirements of the Party. For this purpose, I used sources from the Romanian National Archives and the Archives of the Romanian Broadcasting Society, and I analysed the measures that PCR took in relation to TVR so that the latter meets the ideological expectations of the communist regime.

Types and effects of European semi-presidentialism based on the features of dualism, party affiliation and responsibility of the executive, and the composition of legislatures

This article explores types of European semi-presidentialism and outlines the powers of political institutions and actors and the peculiarities of relations between them in the triangle president–prime minister/cabinet–parliament. Semi-presidentialism can be embodied in the forms of both unified or divided, as well as majority or minority systems and their derivatives. Accordingly, the logics, functionality and dynamics of European semi-presidentialism depend both on constitutional norms, as well as political practice. The research also focuses on the updated and expanded taxonomy of semi-presidentialism based on the peculiarities of dualism, party affiliation, responsibility of the executive and the composition of legislatures. In particular, we argued that semi-presidentialism should be classified within the logics of the fully or partly unified majority systems, fully or partly unified minority systems, divided majority systems and divided minority systems, which provide various political implications.