Political communities on Facebook across 28 European countries

Studies show that political campaigns are increasingly developing a digital strategy to convert their social media followers into agents of the campaign. Remediation of content offers the potential to accelerate the reach of party messages, and there is evidence that this has real world impact. In a comparative examination of all parties standing for the 2014 election to the European parliament, we find that parties with existing large support bases are the most likely to benefit from the potential offered by social media. Having a large number of followers means benefiting from greater prominence by captivating more activists. There is some evidence of “equalisation”, however. Parties with pro or anti-EU stances have the highest percentage of activists within their followership but also attract the largest numbers of those who only comment. We suggest, therefore, that while there is evidence that strong ideological commitment motivates activists, it also generates adversarial dynamics. Qualitative research is required to extend these findings as to understand the nature of online discourse across party social media pages

Virális politika: Politikai kommunikáció a Facebookon = Viral Politics: Political Communication on Facebook

A közösségi oldalak a politika fontos terepeivé váltak. A pártok és politikusok aktívan használják e platformokat, különösen a legnépszerűbb közösségi oldalt, a Facebookot. A politikusok közösségi oldalakon folytatott tevékenységével foglalkozó szakirodalom főárama azonban arra a következtetésre jutott, hogy a közösségi média nem eredményezett jelentős változást a politika működésében. A disszertáció amellett érvel, hogy ez az eredmény abból fakad, hogy a szakirodalom empirikus fókusza túlságosan szűk, és a jelenséget a politikai kommunikáció tágabb kontextusától elszigetelten vizsgálja. ________ Social network sites have become important spheres of politics. Parties and politicians actively adopt these platform, most notably the most popular social network site, Facebook, for their communication. However, the mainstream literature on political actors’ social media use suggest that the emergence of social media does not result in major changes in politics. The diagnosis is “politics as usual” as it had been argued by the early literature on the connections between internet and politics (see, Margolis – Resnick, 2000). However, the dissertation argues that this conclusion is due to the fact that the empirical focus of the mainstream literature is too narrow, and the phenomenon under scrutiny is investigated in isolation from the wider context of and literature on political communication

Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on ASEAN (IC-ASEAN) "Towards a better ASEAN", September 5-6, 2019; Padang, West Sumatra, Indonesia

Since the establishment of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) as a regional organization in 1967, it has played a significant role most importantly related to regional affairs and has also given notable contribution to the international arena. Undisputedly, ASEAN has been successfully fostering good relations among its members since its foundation. After completing the first period of its vision of an integrated regional community (ASEAN Community 2015), ASEAN is now preparing for the launch of ASEAN Community Vision 2025, supported by ASEAN Connectivity 2025. As a study center focusing primarily and solely on ASEAN, in collaboration with the Directorate General of ASEAN Cooperation, Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Center of ASEAN Studies Andalas University, will be hosting the International Conference on ASEAN (IC-ASEAN) as a platform to evaluate past actions, to discuss present issues, and to provide an outlook for the future of ASEAN. Aims and Scope The International Conference on ASEAN (IC-ASEAN) is a multidisciplinary conference which covers a broad range of area. The sub theme will be divided into two large categories focusing on ASEAN Community 2015 and 2025 also ASEAN Connectivity 2025. The sub theme related to ASEAN Community will cover issues related to the three pillars (Political-security Community, Economic Community and Social-cultural Community). Meanwhile the ASEAN Connectivity sub theme will include issues within the key areas (Physical Connectivity, Institutional Connectivity and People-to-people Connectivity

"Walking the fine line?" : Young people, sporting risk, health and embodied identities

sociological literature suggests that adult sports participation is occurring in a 'culture of risk' which glorifies pain, rationalises risk and promotes the practice of playing hurt (Messner, 1990; Nixon, 1992; Curry 1993; Pike, 2000; Roderick et aI, 2000, Safai, 2003; Howe, 2004; Young, 2004a; Liston et aI. 2006). Using this corpus of knowledge as a point of departure, this study directs attention towards young people's sporting risk encounters within the specific context of school sport. Guided by a process-sociological framework (Elias, 1978, 1991,2000 [1939]), it offers an insight into the ways in which young people interpret, experience and manage sporting risk and episodes of sporting pain and injury whilst at school. The research draws on data generated by 1,651 young people aged between ten and sixteen years old using a three-phase data collection programme. The programme incorporated self-report questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and group-based creative tasks and was conducted in six secondary schools located in "Churchill", a major English conurbation. The findings suggest that school sport worlds (re )produce two entwined, yet competing sets of beliefs, attitudes and practices related to sporting pain and injury and are best described as webs of risks and precaution and protectionism. Rather than adopting a more cautious approach to pain and injury the data indicates that this cluster of young people frequently play hurt, normalise injury and engage in forms of 'injury talk' that discredit episodes of sporting pain. In so doing, they may be placing their short and long-term physical, psychological, social and moral health in jeopardy. However, it is argued that this collection of sporting practices are highly valued by young people and are integral to the ways in which they assign and perform a range of dissecting and fluid embodied identities. Notwithstanding the potential for sporting risk encounters to engender damaging, disrupting and debilitating outcomes, the data also emphasises the potential for these experiences to act as important spaces in which young people are able to probe their bodily limits, develop corporeal knowledge and experience pleasurable emotions (Maguire, 199Ia). This thesis draws attention to the duality of sport and calls for a more reality-congruent approach to the sport-health-risk-youth nexus in the development of future (school) sport worlds

Proceedings of the Eighth Italian Conference on Computational Linguistics CliC-it 2021

The eighth edition of the Italian Conference on Computational Linguistics (CLiC-it 2021) was held at Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca from 26th to 28th January 2022. After the edition of 2020, which was held in fully virtual mode due to the health emergency related to Covid-19, CLiC-it 2021 represented the first moment for the Italian research community of Computational Linguistics to meet in person after more than one year of full/partial lockdown

The Body of Evidence

In The Body of Evidence. Corpses and Proofs in Early Modern European Medicine Francesco Paolo de Ceglia offers an overview of the evolution of the science of the ‘signs of the corpse’, from necromancy to forensic medicine. Readership: The volume is aimed at scholars and specialized libraries in the historical field. Rich in original anecdotes, it can also be read easily by inquisitive people