Nexus of Patriotism and Militarism in Russia

This edited volume explores patriotism and the growing role of militarism in today’s Russia. During the last 20-year period, there has been a consistent effort in Russia to consolidate the nation and to foster a sense of unity and common purpose. To this end, Russian authorities have activated various channels, from educational programmes and youth organizations to media and popular culture. With the conflict in Ukraine, the manipulation of public sentiments – feeling of pride and perception of threat – has become more systemic. The traditional view of Russia being Other for Europe has been replaced with a narrative of enmity. The West is portrayed as a threat to Russia’s historical-cultural originality while Russia represents itself as a country encircled by enemies. On the other hand, these state-led projects mixing patriotism and militarism are perceived sceptically by the Russian society, especially the younger generations. This volume provides new insights into the evolution of enemy images in Russia and the ways in which societal actors perceive official projections of patriotism and militarism in the Russian society. The contributors of the volume include several experts on Russian studies, contemporary history, political science, sociology, and media studies

Preface: Communication, empowerment and governance: The 21st century enigma

Communication in the 21st century is transforming rapidly through the globalization of organizations and digital technologies.Communication not only shapes organizational governance and empowerment but also influences our way of thinking.Due to these twin forces, the roles of communication must be explored in the context of organizational governance and its impact on media and society. The economic crisis that hit East Asian countries just before the turn of the 21st century and Europe a decade or so later has proven to be a transformative factor triggering local conflict and change (e.g., leadership transitions and uneven liberalization of global economic policies, among others) and creating new organizing processes forcing disparate countries together in closer interactions.In these closer interactions, pressures for conformity and adherence to institutional norms have become a manifest.But the basic clash between western-based conceptions of liberal economic regionalism and the Asian value of mercantilism has created conflicts making future cooperation more difficult. Situations exemplifying this can be found around the globe in very different contexts, even as it is still somewhat surprising to come across the application of similar methodologies in different scenarios and backgrounds.In addressing events such as the economic crisis that befell the East Asian countries, this conference discusses the crucial concerns (and their potential solutions) related to the emergence,interconnected elements from various communication contexts, organizational government perspectives and empowerment that influence our way of thinking in the context of the basic clash between Western-based conceptions of liberal economic regionalism and the Asian value of mercantilism.The conference provides a broad platform for discourse on the emergence and interconnected issues shaped by the meaning of communication, governance and empowerment as understood in the Asia-Pacific region as well as other parts of the world. The 2014 theme “Communication, Empowerment and Governance: The 21st Century Enigma” is aimed toward advancing scholarships in the field of communication which would benefit communities that are experiencing change.This volume comprises papers that were presented at the 4th International Conference on Communication and Media (i-COME’14) which was held in Langkawi Island, from the 18 to 20 October 2014.Organised by the Communication Department, School of Multimedia Technology and Communication, Universiti Utara Malaysia, this conference was attended by 200 participants from 20 countries, including those from Asia, Europe, Africa and Australia.As guest editors of the conference proceedings, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to the members of the scientific committee, reviewers and contributors to this volume for their goodwill, support and patience in revising their papers.We are also grateful to the committee members of the i-COME’14 who have assisted us in bringing this volume to fruition

Thumb-bangers : exploring the cultural bond between video games and heavy metal

« Heavy Metal Generations » is the fourth volume in the series of papers drawn from the 2012 Music, Metal and Politics international conference (http://www.inter-disciplinary.net/publishing/product/heavy-metal-generations/).Heavy metal and video games share an almost simultaneous birth, with Black Sabbath’s debut album in 1970 and Nolan Bushnell’s Computer Space in 1971. From Judas Priest’s ‘Freewheel Burning’ music video in 1984 to Tim Schafer’s Brütal Legend in 2009, the exchanges between these two subcultures have been both reciprocal and exponential. This chapter will present a historical survey of the bond between video games and heavy metal cultures through its highest-profile examples. There are two underlying reasons for this symbiosis: 1) the historical development and popular dissemination of the video game came at an opportune time, first with the video game arcades in the 1970s and early 1980s, and then with the Nintendo Entertainment System, whose technical sound-channel limitations happened to fall in line with the typical structures of heavy metal; 2) heavy metal and video games, along with their creators and consumers, have faced similar sociocultural paths and challenges, notably through the policies set in place by the PMRC and the ESRB, and a flurry of lawsuits and attacks, especially from United States congressmen, that resulted in an overlapping of their respective spaces outside dominant culture. These reasons explain the natural bond between these cultural practices, and the more recent developments like Last Chance to Reason’s Level 2 let us foresee a future where new hybrid creations could emerge

Why Youth (heart) Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life

Part of the Volume on Youth, Identity, and Digital Media Social network sites like MySpace and Facebook serve as "networked publics." As with unmediated publics like parks and malls, youth use networked publics to gather, socialize with their peers, and make sense of and help build the culture around them. This article examines American youth engagement in networked publics and considers how properties unique to such mediated environments (e.g., persistence, searchability, replicability, and invisible audiences) affect the ways in which youth interact with one another. Ethnographic data is used to analyze how youth recognize these structural properties and find innovative ways of making these systems serve their purposes. Issues like privacy and impression management are explored through the practices of teens and youth participation in social network sites is situated in a historical discussion of youth's freedom and mobility in the United States

Do companies reduce CSR disclosures during recessions?

Purpose: We investigate trends in prevalence and volume of CSR disclosure by the top 50 New Zealand listed companies from 2005 to 2010, i.e. from before until after the initial impact of the global financial crisis (GFC). Design/methodology/approach: We examine the annual reports of each of the companies between the years 2005 and 2010, as well as company websites for standalone CSR reports. We count the number of pages of any social and environmental disclosures in annual reports and in standalone reports for each year and use this data to assess whether overall trends can be discerned. We compare CSR disclosure trends with changes in business confidence. Findings: Our results reveal a general upward trend in CSR disclosures over the six-year period. The number of companies disclosing in their annual reports and standalone reports increased from 2005 to 2007. However, during the initial drop in business confidence in 2008 (brought on by the GFC), CSR disclosures in annual reports and standalone reports remained consistent overall with 2007. Companies operating within industries more prone to public scrutiny or those industries more sensitive to the social and environmental impacts of corporate operations actually increased their CSR disclosures, whereas other companies decreased their disclosure for an overall constant level. The upward trend resumed in 2009, but when business confidence again suffered in 2010, overall annual report CSR disclosures decreased, whereas overall standalone report disclosure continued the upward trend. In sum, during times of reduced business confidence, companies in non-environmentally-sensitive and non-socially-sensitive industries appear to buck the overall trend towards increased CSR disclosures. Originality: Many studies conclude that there is an upward trend in CSR disclosures over time. Other studies examine the impact of particular events on disclosure. However, we are not aware of any study that examines the impact of the initial phase of the GFC on the overall upward trend in CSR disclosures, i.e. whether companies subjugate CSR in favour of more pressing business priorities during times of reduced business confidence

Trends in rooting media in Dutch horticulture during the period 2001-2005: The new growing media project

An overview of the developments in the area and volume of substrates used for horticultural rooting media in Holland in the period 2001 to 2005 is given. The overview is followed by a discussion of some trends in society and technology including the interest of public and society in a possible substitution of peat, an increase in the use of locally produced renewable carbon based substrates and an increase in nutrient recirculation for soil grown crops. In reaction to growing public concern about peat harvesting for horticultural purposes in parts of Europe, Dutch growers, researchers, potting soil producers, an auction and traders initiated in 2003 a research program named the New Growing Media Project. The aim was: To assess the technical and economical potential of peat alternatives. Develop experience and knowledge of growing on alternative mixtures. During 2004 and 2005, fifteen growers cultivated green and flowering container plants on alternative mixes. The 2004 season was used to test larger numbers of potting soils with relatively small numbers of plants. The 2005 season was used to test the most promising potting soils with larger numbers of plants. The results showed that for Hedera and Schefflera, the ultimate alternative mix was superior to the commercial standard used. For five species, Anthurium, Chrysanthemum, Gerbera, Spathiphyllum and Castanospermum, the alternative mix proved equal to the commercial standard. For eight species, Azalea, Guzmania, Poinsettia, Rosa, Saintpaulia, Adiantum, Crassula and Ficus, results were poorer than on the standard medium. The growers however, felt confident the alternative mixes could do better if the growing system, often the irrigation frequency, could be adapted to the experimental growing medium. Begonia gave poorer results with the new mix. The percentage peat used in the mixes was reduced from 77% on average in the commercial standard mixes to 30% on average in the new mixes. The most popular alternatives were coir products which increased from 17 to 40%. Other alternatives used were various barks, rice hulls, perlite, wood fiber, composts, and rockwool granulate. Those alternatives were used in mixtures from 5 to 30%. General conclusions include a growing interest in locally produced composts, granulates and fibers and for materials with properties such as a high initial air content combined with an improved rewetting rate

Reclaiming “People Power”: Prospects for Renewed Civil Society Engagement and Democratic Governance

With mounting challenges to democratization and the threat of regression, one asks how do we best reclaim spaces for engagement and public participation. The paper turns to civil society and revisits the case of the Philippines. It takes a closer look at their contributions, experiences, and insights as to challenges faced by the country relative to democratic nation-building. Towards this end, the paper discusses prospects for renewed engagement towards inclusive and democratic governance

Interactivity, the global conversation and World Service research: Digital China

This paper examines the relationship between a broadcaster’s research methods and aspects of the environment in which it operates, specifically its accountability to its funders and the growth of interactivity by its users. It is concerned with (1) how the BBC World Service’s funding by the UK government’s Foreign & Commonwealth Office (FCO) means that it has to account for its activities to some extent in terms of the global conversation which it fosters; and (2) how the recent growth of interactive and social media enhances possibilities for worldwide engagement and conversation, but also increases the complexities of measurement. This is because users are dispersed across the globe (they are no longer confined to a geographical area of radio reception) and they are interactive: instead of merely listening or viewing, they talk back to the BBC, and they talk with one another. New tools and techniques are needed to measure these new flows and forms of interaction (and they also beg new professional and organisational practices). In a case study of the BBC’s Chinese service, the paper explores what the BBC knows of its audience or users; and, in a content analysis of online forums, it explores some of the issues and possibilities that arise in researching online interaction, the sort of research data and analysis that might be seen as necessary in the context of organisational accountability and the emerging interactive media environment

Exploring the democratic potential of online social networking: The scope and limitations of e-participation

Copyright © 2012 by the Association for Information Systems.The availability and promise of social networking technologies with their perceived open philosophy has increasingly inspired citizens around the world to participate in political activity on the Web. Recent examples range from opposing public policies, such as government funding cuts, to organizing revolutionary social movements, such as those in the Middle East and North Africa. Although online spaces create remarkable opportunities for various forms of political action, there are concerns over the power of existing institutions to control and even censor such interaction spaces. The objective of this article is to draw together different insights on the online engagement phenomenon, highlighting both its potential and limitations as a mechanism for fostering democratic debate and influencing policy making. We examine recent examples from Europe, the Middle East and Latin America. Finally, we summarize the implications of our work and outline directions for further research