Book review: Black wind, white snow: the rise of Russia’snew nationalism by Charles Clover

In Black Wind, White Snow: The Rise of Russia’s New Nationalism, Charles Clover traces an intellectual history of ‘Eurasianism’, a theory of Russian national identity based on the idea of a primordial Eurasian civilisation, as a means of understanding contemporary Russian politics. This is a meticulously researched and engagingly written book, finds Ed Pertwee, deserving of a wide readership

Green Crescent, Crimson Cross: the transatlantic 'Counterjihad' and the new political theology

This thesis explores the EuroAmerican ‘counterjihad’, a transnational field of antiMuslim political action that has grown significantly since it first became visible in the mid-late 2000s. Its key symptoms have included ‘Defence Leagues’ and ‘Stop Islamisation’ groups in various national contexts, grassroots mobilisations against mosques and minarets, campaigns to ‘ban the burqa’, as well as a very wide network of antiMuslim online spaces. The thesis argues that the counterjihad can be seen as a transnational political movement, and its discursive, aesthetic, organisational and tactical repertoires are all critically explored. It will be shown that the heterogeneous political tendencies that constitute the counterjihad are united by a shared narrative of Western crisis, decline and impending catastrophe; several overlapping conspiratorial narratives that attempt to explain this predicament; and, finally, a spectrum of compensatory political projects that seek to reinvigorate a sense of Western civilizational and white ethnic identity in a post-Cold War context where those identities are increasingly contested. The thesis also argues that the counterjihad is one aspect of a more general phenomenon: the striking reemergence in ‘late’ modernity of a number of ‘countermodern’ or ‘traditionalist’ political theologies. These new political theologies overlap with, but are not identical to, the ones that flourished during the long crisis of ‘classical’ European modernity in the early twentieth century (notably, ‘classical’ Italian Fascism and German National Socialism). Finally, the thesis considers the sociopolitical conditions that have fostered the reemergence of such phenomena today

Donald Trump, the anti-Muslim far right and the new conservative revolution

This article explores the “counter-jihad”, a transnational field of anti-Muslim political action that emerged in the mid-2000s, becoming a key tributary of the recent far-right insurgency and an important influence on the Trump presidency. The article draws on thematic analysis of content from counter-jihad websites and interviews with movement activists, sympathizers and opponents, in order to characterize the counter-jihad’s organizational infrastructure and political discourse and to theorize its relationship to fascism and other far-right tendencies. Although the political discourses of the counter-jihad, Trumpian Republicanism and the avowedly racist “Alt-Right” are not identical, I argue that all three tendencies share a common, counterrevolutionary temporal structure. Consequently, like “classical” Italian Fascism and German National Socialism, they can be seen as historically and contextually-specific forms of “revolutionary conservatism”

‘Welcome to #GabFam’: Far-right virtual community on Gab.

With large social media platforms coming under increasing pressure to deplatform far-right users, the Alternative Technology movement (Alt-Tech) emerged as a new digital support infrastructure for the far right. We conduct a qualitative analysis of the prominent Alt-Tech platform Gab, a social networking service primarily modelled on Twitter, to assess the far-right virtual community on the platform. We find Gab’s technological affordances – including its lack of content moderation, culture of anonymity, microblogging architecture and funding model – have fostered an ideologically eclectic far-right community united by fears of persecution at the hands of ‘Big Tech’. We argue that this points to the emergence of a novel techno-social victimology as an axis of far-right virtual community, wherein shared experiences or fears of being deplatformed facilitate a coalescing of assorted far-right tendencies online

The effects of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol on the dopamine system

Δ(9)-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the main psychoactive ingredient in cannabis, is a pressing concern to global mental health. Patterns of use are changing drastically due to legalisation, availability of synthetic analogues (‘spice’), cannavaping and aggrandizements in the purported therapeutic effects of cannabis. Many of THC’s reinforcing effects are mediated by the dopamine system. Due to complex cannabinoid-dopamine interactions there is conflicting evidence from human and animal research fields. Acute THC causes increased dopamine release and neuron activity, whilst long-term use is associated with blunting of the dopamine system. Future research must examine the long-term and developmental dopaminergic effects of the drug

Developmental consequences of perinatal cannabis exposure: behavioral and neuroendocrine effects in adult rodents

Cannabis is the most commonly used illicit drug among pregnant women. Since the endocannabinoid system plays a crucial role in brain development, maternal exposure to cannabis derivatives might result in long-lasting neurobehavioral abnormalities in the exposed offspring. It is difficult to detect these effects, and their underlying neurobiological mechanisms, in clinical cohorts, because of their intrinsic methodological and interpretative issues. The present paper reviews relevant rodent studies examining the long-term behavioral consequences of exposure to cannabinoid compounds during pregnancy and/or lactation. Maternal exposure to even low doses of cannabinoid compounds results in atypical locomotor activity, cognitive impairments, altered emotional behavior, and enhanced sensitivity to drugs of abuse in the adult rodent offspring. Some of the observed behavioral abnormalities might be related to alterations in stress hormone levels induced by maternal cannabis exposure. There is increasing evidence from animal studies showing that cannabinoid drugs are neuroteratogens which induce enduring neurobehavioral abnormalities in the exposed offspring. Several preclinical findings reviewed in this paper are in line with clinical studies reporting hyperactivity, cognitive impairments and altered emotionality in humans exposed in utero to cannabis. Conversely, genetic, environmental and social factors could also influence the neurobiological effects of early cannabis exposure in humans

‘Welcome to #GabFam’:Far-right virtual community on Gab

With large social media platforms coming under increasing pressure to deplatform far-right users, the Alternative Technology movement (Alt-Tech) emerged as a new digital support infrastructure for the far right. We conduct a qualitative analysis of the prominent Alt-Tech platform Gab, a social networking service primarily modelled on Twitter, to assess the far-right virtual community on the platform. We find Gab’s technological affordances – including its lack of content moderation, culture of anonymity, microblogging architecture and funding model – have fostered an ideologically eclectic far-right community united by fears of persecution at the hands of ‘Big Tech’. We argue that this points to the emergence of a novel techno-social victimology as an axis of far-right virtual community, wherein shared experiences or fears of being deplatformed facilitate a coalescing of assorted far-right tendencies online.</p

Conversational AI and Vaccine Communication: Systematic Review of the Evidence.

BACKGROUND: Since the mid-2010s, use of conversational artificial intelligence (AI; chatbots) in health care has expanded significantly, especially in the context of increased burdens on health systems and restrictions on in-person consultations with health care providers during the COVID-19 pandemic. One emerging use for conversational AI is to capture evolving questions and communicate information about vaccines and vaccination. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this systematic review was to examine documented uses and evidence on the effectiveness of conversational AI for vaccine communication. METHODS: This systematic review was conducted following the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines. PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, MEDLINE, Scopus, CINAHL Complete, Cochrane Library, Embase, Epistemonikos, Global Health, Global Index Medicus, Academic Search Complete, and the University of London library database were searched for papers on the use of conversational AI for vaccine communication. The inclusion criteria were studies that included (1) documented instances of conversational AI being used for the purpose of vaccine communication and (2) evaluation data on the impact and effectiveness of the intervention. RESULTS: After duplicates were removed, the review identified 496 unique records, which were then screened by title and abstract, of which 38 were identified for full-text review. Seven fit the inclusion criteria and were assessed and summarized in the findings of this review. Overall, vaccine chatbots deployed to date have been relatively simple in their design and have mainly been used to provide factual information to users in response to their questions about vaccines. Additionally, chatbots have been used for vaccination scheduling, appointment reminders, debunking misinformation, and, in some cases, for vaccine counseling and persuasion. Available evidence suggests that chatbots can have a positive effect on vaccine attitudes; however, studies were typically exploratory in nature, and some lacked a control group or had very small sample sizes. CONCLUSIONS: The review found evidence of potential benefits from conversational AI for vaccine communication. Factors that may contribute to the effectiveness of vaccine chatbots include their ability to provide credible and personalized information in real time, the familiarity and accessibility of the chatbot platform, and the extent to which interactions with the chatbot feel "natural" to users. However, evaluations have focused on the short-term, direct effects of chatbots on their users. The potential longer-term and societal impacts of conversational AI have yet to be analyzed. In addition, existing studies do not adequately address how ethics apply in the field of conversational AI around vaccines. In a context where further digitalization of vaccine communication can be anticipated, additional high-quality research will be required across all these areas