Mass communications and political culture: authoritarianism and press representations of political deviance in Greece

This study focuses on the role of the politics of signification, and in particular, on the role of the press in the reproduction and transformation of political culture. It is suggested that the systemic/behaviourist approach to political culture initiated by the "Civic Culture Thesis" proposed by Almond and Verba limits the scope of the study of political culture. It is therefore argued that a reformulation of the concept of political culture premised upon post-Parsonian critical social science traditions (such as the work of R. Williams, the Birmingham Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies and P. Bourdieu, provides a new interdisciplinary framework that permits the consideration of hitherto little explored aspects of political culture formation, reproduction and change such as the role of mass communications in these processes. In this, alternative theoretical context, a provisional attempt is made to examine the possible links between mass communications and the reproduction/change of political culture. The empirical part of this work explores the process of formation and reproduction of authoritarian elements of Greek political culture through the political press and is divided in two sections. The first examines the social/historical processes which led to the formation and reproduction of contemporary Greek political culture and the development of the Greek political press. In the second part, I examine the Athens press performance with particular reference to press representations of the confrontation between the state and a social/political minority which has become known as "the marginals". The press "test" then is interpreted on the basis of the social/historical context, in which it is produced and interpreted, and its relationships with Greek political culture is examined. The argument is concluded with a provisional consideration of the relationship of political culture and the press, based on the theoretical and empirical evidence, thus preparing the ground for further study of political culture and mass communications

Electronic democracy in practice : One, two, three... countless variants

Since the early nineties, digital democracy has been a major point interest for politicians, unions and employers' organizations in both the USA and Europe. Experiments into models for digital democracy in the age of Computer Mediated Communications have already led to a multitude of projects that vary in both form and content. Indeed, the diversification of approaches to digital democracy shows to a considerable extent how there is a lack of clarity concerning the notion of digital democracy and more generally the notion of democracy itself. Drawing upon an analysis of a number of important experiments in digital democracy, this paper constitutes an attempt to compare rhetoric and reality regarding the democratic potential of the multitude of digital democracy projects and argues that academic and other debate on the matter needs to be informed by an awareness of the diversity of intentions, forms, promises and potential of those projects.Depuis les début des années 90, la démocratie électronique est une préoccupation importante des hommes politiques et des partenaires sociaux tant en Europe qu'aux États-Unis. La mise en place d'expérimentations en matière de démocratie électronique a déjà donné lieu à une multitude de projets variés aux contenus et aux formes variables. Ainsi, l'atomisation des approches de la démocratie électronique révèle le manque le réflexion non seulement sur la notion elle-même mais également sur la nature de la démocratie en général. Basé sur l'analyse d'un nombre important d'expériences de démocratie électronique, ce papier veut confronter la rhétorique politique à la réalité. Il met en évidence que le débat autour de la cyberdémocratie doit prendre en considération la grande diversité des intentions, des formes, des promesses et du potentiel inhérents à la multitude des projets de démocratie électronique

Social media in democratic transitions and consolidations: what can we learn from the case of Tunisia?

© 2018, © 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. The aim of this paper is to analyse the use of social media in the stages of uprising, democratic transition and democratic consolidation using the case study of Tunisia. While the impact of social media in uprisings has been widely documented in past research about the MENA region, Tunisia provides new evidence to the use of Internet in the processes of democratisation. Consequently, this research focuses in detail on the benefits but also the pitfalls of social media in transitions and consolidations. Data collection was based on interviews with Tunisian social media activists. The analysis is valuable to social media practitioners and researchers alike

Obsojeni na trg? Razvoj medijev azijske in grškociprske skupnosti v Veliki Britaniji

Članek obravnava skupnostne medije (radio etničnih manjšin, kabelsko, satelitsko in zemeljsko televizijo) v Združenem kraljestvu in njihov položaj v globalnem okviru medijev razseljenih skupnosti ter med mediji v sodobni Britaniji. Ti mediji so nastali delno kot posledica konca pomanjkanja frekvenc, kar je sprožilo fragmentacijo trga in spodbudilo oz. omogočilo nastanek novih, specializiranih medijev. Po svoji naravi se razlikujejo od drugih lokalnih, regionalnih ali skupnostnih medijev, ker iščejo svoje občinstvo v manjšinskih skupnostih, katerih identiteta ni ukoreninjena v trdno povezanih lokalnih skupnostih. Na temelju izsledkov raziskav o azijskih in grškociprskih skupnostnih medijih v Veliki Britaniji avtorica kritično osvetljuje razvoj medijev etničnih skupnosti v Veliki Britaniji v zadnjih dveh desetletjih. Proučuje pripravo programov za etnične skupnosti v okviru javne radiodifuzije in ocenjuje njihovo strukturo, obseg, opredeljene cilje in položaj med lokalnim in globalnim. V nadaljevanju ocenjuje politike pri oblikovanju političnega, zakonskega in regulacijskega okvira, ki so omogočile razvoj specifičnih elektronskih medijev v etničnih skupnostih (kabelsko in satelitsko televizijo, radio in v zadnjem obdobju tudi zemeljsko televizijo).This article focuses on minority community media (ethnic minority radio, cable,satellite and terrestrial television) in the UK and their position within global diasporic media landscapes as well as in the media landscape of contemporary Britain. These media, partly products of the end of frequency scarcity which has led to media market fragmentation and encouraged/enabled the creation of new, specialised media, are distinct from other local, regional or community media as they identify their audience in minority communities whose identities are not rooted in well bounded localities

Diasporično komuniciranje: transnacionalne kulturne prakse in komunikacijski prostori

Članek sledi razvoju akademske razprave in oblikovanju interesa za diasporo in ju umešča v sodobne analize postomoderne in globalizacije ter razvoj kulturoloških študij in socialne antropologije. Izhajajoč iz teoretskih opredelitev diaspore v teh vedah, članek ugotavlja, da diasporične kulturne prakse oblikujejo načine imaginacije, institucije prostorov, ki pogosto presegajo krajevne meje, artikulacije zamišljene skupnosti in smislov pripadanja, ki premoščajo "lokalno proti globalnemu" in redefinirajo lokalno in globalno. Za ta proces je bistveno ustvarjanje diasporičnih medijskih prostorov, ki vse bolj nastajajo v transnacionalnih in lokalnih okvirih. Članek ugotavlja, da taki prostori mediacije in izmenjave vse bolj postajajo prizorišča, na katerih soobstajajo in se artikulirajo nasprotne upravičenosti pripadanja ter skupni okviri identitete in solidarnosti.This article follows the process of development of academic debate and interest on the concept of diaspora and attempts to situate it within current analyses of postmodernity and globalisation as well as within developments in cultural studies and social anthropology. Drawing upon the theoretical and conceptual conceptualisations of diasporas within these fields, the article is suggesting that diasporic cultural practices constitute ways of "imagination," of "institution" of "spaces" that often extend beyond the boundaries of place, of articulation of "imagined" and "encountered" communityand of senses of belonging that straddle the "local versus global" and divide and, in the process, redefine locality and "the global." Crucial in such processes is the development of the "diasporic media spaces" that are increasingly in evidence in transnational and local settings. The article suggests that such spaces of negotiation and exchange are increasingly becoming sites where conflicting claims of belonging as well as common frameworks of identity and solidarity coexist and become articulated

Digital Diasporas: Beyond the Buzzword: Towards a Relational Understanding of Mobility and Connectivity

This chapter proposes a critical intervention in digital diaspora studies by foregrounding a relational approach that is inspired by feminist and postcolonial theory. This innovative framework allows us to grasp contemporary human mobility as shaped by and constitutive of an unevenly interconnected world. Relational implies taking into account different perspectives and methodologies on diaspora studies which defy ossified notions of ‘here’ and ‘there’, and of ethnic absolutism but sees diaspora as a continuum that needs to be critically scrutinized in its different manifestations. This holds also for the notion of digital diaspora. Recent buzzwords including ‘the connected migrant’, ‘digital diaspora’, ‘online diaspora’ and ‘e-diasporas’ commonly champion agency, particularly of non-white communities hailing from the Global South. This perspective risks glossing over the ways in which everyday offline and online contexts are steeped in intersecting gendered, racial, classed, generational and geo-political power relations. We provide a genealogy of digital diasporas scholarship in order to counter this lack of critical attention for power differences and material, social and emotional contexts. We will do so by combining media and non-media centric paradigm shifts in internet studies with the several turns and takes in critical digital diaspora studies

Thinking globally, teaching sustainability: embedding sustainability in international business studies and addressing student responses

Globalization has changed the world and greatly affected business and management education. However, within mainstream curricula globalization is often framed in a particularly narrow sense, which often reproduces business-as-usual. By implication, a sustainability perspective is hardly noticeable in most university-level subjects that draw from globalization. To explore ways of overcoming this shortcoming, I reflect on two aspects of my experience attempting to integrate sustainability into international business (IB) studies. First, I consider limitations related to course content, discussing ways to re-orientate IB towards meaningful inclusion of sustainability. Second, I identify four common student types—‘radicals,’ ‘deer in the headlights,’ ‘traditionalists,’ and ‘highbrows’—to highlight particular challenges that arise when students are confronted with a sustainability perspective. Using illustrative examples from my lectures, this chapter proposes certain strategies that others may utilize to effectively further the sustainability agenda within business and management studies