Occupy Wall Street: From Representation to Post-Representation

Trying to assess something as recent and dynamic as Occupy Wall Street (OWS) presents problems for political analysts. There is always a danger that by the time one has written in judgement the event-movement will have morphed into something quite different. For this reason alone we need to be careful about offering too definitive a judgment on what it represents, about what we think is new in the phenomenon as well as what we think presents linkages to the past. On the one hand, OWS is still in the process of becoming-something . On the other hand, though, we can see the outline of more or less familiar characteristics that might help orientate us towards something that is being greeted as a new departure

Ideas, Politics, Movements

Chamsy el-Ojeili interviews Simon Tormey, political theorist from the University of Sydney. &nbsp

Reinventing the political party in Spain: the case of 15M and the Spanish mobilisations

The current political context in Spain is intriguing for those who study participation and political parties. The emergence of citizen activism, expressed mainly through the 15M Movement, and the political crisis of the two major political parties has led to a new and complex situation where new political parties flourish out of citizen initiatives. This paper analyses the nature and characteristics of these new political parties, and considers the impact that the proliferation of these parties is having on current democracies. The work is based on content analysis and field interviews involving almost a hundred activists and party members from three different Spanish cities

Ciudadanos contra la austeridad: una reflexión comparativa entre la Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (PAH) y Bündnis Zwangsräumung Verhindern (BZV)

Despite significant socioeconomic differences between Spain and Germany, the two countries have witnessed the growing presence of activist initiatives addressing housing problems. Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (PAH) in Spain and Bündnis Zwangsräumung Verhindern (BZV) in Berlin are struggling to stop evictions and defend citizens’ housing rights. The goal of this paper is to reflect on how politics are developing in relation to austerity and the lack of basic goods for parts of the population. This paper adopts a qualitative methodology based on a comparative case study of PAH and BZV to study the similarities and differences between the two platforms. The paper focuses especially on PAH and BZV ideological and sociological backgrounds, political repertories and political logics.A pesar de las significativas diferencias socioeconómicas entre España y Alemania, ambos países han sido testigos de la creciente presencia de las iniciativas activistas que abordan los problemas de acceso a la vivienda. Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (PAH) en España y Bündnis Zwangsräumung Verhindern (BZV) en Berlín luchan para detener los desahucios y defender los derechos de vivienda de la ciudadanía. El objetivo de este trabajo consiste en reflexionar sobre cómo se está desarrollando la política en relación con la austeridad y la falta de bienes de primera necesidad para sectores de la población. En este trabajo se adopta una metodología cualitativa basada en un estudio de caso comparativo entre PAH y BZV con la finalidad de estudiar las similitudes y diferencias entre ambas plataformas. El artículo se centra sobre todo en los orígenes ideológicos y sociológicos, los repertorios y las lógicas políticas de PAH y BZV

Old and New Media Logics in an Electoral Campaign: The Case of Podemos and the Two-Way Street Mediatization of Politics

In Spain, the 2014 European Elections saw the unexpected rise of a new party Podemos, which obtained five European Parliament seats only three months after its formation. In the Spanish National Elections in December 2015, this party obtained 20.66 percent of the votes, which made it the third biggest party. Our objective was to analyze the old and new elements of Podemos’ communication and campaign strategies. The methodology followed here used this new party as a strategic case study by a qualitative approach. The analysis focused on three key fronts: (1) the role of communication, (2) mediatization of politics, and (3) use of digital media. The results suggested that Podemos’ 2014 electoral campaign combined presence on broadcast television and use of intense digital media to boost citizens’ engagement and self-mediation. Accordingly, it was established as a new transmedia party. This case also demonstrates that mediatization can also occur in two-way street dynamics, that is, from politics to the media, where the former generates an influence on the latter. This finding opens the door to help overcome the media-centric vision. Finally, we discussed future questions about the influence on other political actors’ communication strategies in different parts of the world from an international perspective.The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This article is part of the research project CSO2014-52283-C2- 1-P, and FI2013-47136-C2-2-P funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (State Plan of Scientific and Technical Research and Innovation 2013-2016)

Citizens against Austerity: a Comparative Reflection on Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (PAH) and Bündnis Zwangsräumung Verhindern (BZV)

Despite significant socioeconomic differences between Spain and Germany, the two countries have witnessed the growing presence of activist initiatives addressing housing problems. Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (PAH) in Spain and Bündnis Zwangsräumung Verhindern (BZV) in Berlin are struggling to stop evictions and defend citizens’ housing rights. The goal of this paper is to reflect on how politics are developing in relation to austerity and the lack of basic goods for parts of the population. This paper adopts a qualitative methodology based on a comparative case study of PAH and BZV to study the similarities and differences between the two platforms. The paper focuses especially on PAH and BZV ideological and sociological backgrounds, political repertories and political logics.A pesar de las significativas diferencias socioeconómicas entre España y Alemania, ambos países han sido testigos de la creciente presencia de las iniciativas activistas que abordan los problemas de acceso a la vivienda. Plataforma de Afectados por la Hipoteca (PAH) en España y Bündnis Zwangsräumung Verhindern (BZV) en Berlín luchan para detener los desahucios y defender los derechos de vivienda de la ciudadanía. El objetivo de este trabajo consiste en reflexionar sobre cómo se está desarrollando la política en relación con la austeridad y la falta de bienes de primera necesidad para sectores de la población. En este trabajo se adopta una metodología cualitativa basada en un estudio de caso comparativo entre PAH y BZV con la finalidad de estudiar las similitudes y diferencias entre ambas plataformas. El artículo se centra sobre todo en los orígenes ideológicos y sociológicos, los repertorios y las lógicas políticas de PAH y BZV

The twilight of the Liberal Social Contract? On the Reception of Rawlsian Political Liberalism

This chapter discusses the Rawlsian project of public reason, or public justification-based 'political' liberalism, and its reception. After a brief philosophical rather than philological reconstruction of the project, the chapter revolves around a distinction between idealist and realist responses to it. Focusing on political liberalism’s critical reception illuminates an overarching question: was Rawls’s revival of a contractualist approach to liberal legitimacy a fruitful move for liberalism and/or the social contract tradition? The last section contains a largely negative answer to that question. Nonetheless the chapter's conclusion shows that the research programme of political liberalism provided and continues to provide illuminating insights into the limitations of liberal contractualism, especially under conditions of persistent and radical diversity. The programme is, however, less receptive to challenges to do with the relative decline of the power of modern states

Constitutivism

A brief explanation and overview of constitutivism

Philosophy of action

The philosophical study of human action begins with Plato and Aristotle. Their influence in late antiquity and the Middle Ages yielded sophisticated theories of action and motivation, notably in the works of Augustine and Aquinas.1 But the ideas that were dominant in 1945 have their roots in the early modern period, when advances in physics and mathematics reshaped philosophy

Elective cancer surgery in COVID-19-free surgical pathways during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic: An international, multicenter, comparative cohort study

PURPOSE As cancer surgery restarts after the first COVID-19 wave, health care providers urgently require data to determine where elective surgery is best performed. This study aimed to determine whether COVID-19–free surgical pathways were associated with lower postoperative pulmonary complication rates compared with hospitals with no defined pathway. PATIENTS AND METHODS This international, multicenter cohort study included patients who underwent elective surgery for 10 solid cancer types without preoperative suspicion of SARS-CoV-2. Participating hospitals included patients from local emergence of SARS-CoV-2 until April 19, 2020. At the time of surgery, hospitals were defined as having a COVID-19–free surgical pathway (complete segregation of the operating theater, critical care, and inpatient ward areas) or no defined pathway (incomplete or no segregation, areas shared with patients with COVID-19). The primary outcome was 30-day postoperative pulmonary complications (pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, unexpected ventilation). RESULTS Of 9,171 patients from 447 hospitals in 55 countries, 2,481 were operated on in COVID-19–free surgical pathways. Patients who underwent surgery within COVID-19–free surgical pathways were younger with fewer comorbidities than those in hospitals with no defined pathway but with similar proportions of major surgery. After adjustment, pulmonary complication rates were lower with COVID-19–free surgical pathways (2.2% v 4.9%; adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.62; 95% CI, 0.44 to 0.86). This was consistent in sensitivity analyses for low-risk patients (American Society of Anesthesiologists grade 1/2), propensity score–matched models, and patients with negative SARS-CoV-2 preoperative tests. The postoperative SARS-CoV-2 infection rate was also lower in COVID-19–free surgical pathways (2.1% v 3.6%; aOR, 0.53; 95% CI, 0.36 to 0.76). CONCLUSION Within available resources, dedicated COVID-19–free surgical pathways should be established to provide safe elective cancer surgery during current and before future SARS-CoV-2 outbreaks