Also These Voices. Technology and Gender in the Practice of Fanvidding

Author(s): Joanna Kucharska / Language(s): English Issue: 04/2013

The article aims to discuss and analyze the practice of fanvidding – a type of audiovisual fanwork juxtaposing footage of a source or sources with external audio, in order to reframe the original material and express a new meaning. In order to discuss the practice, the article looks at the fandom theories of cultural economy, struggle for control over messages, and the tactics of textual poaching introduced by Fiske, de Certeau and Jenkins. It also provides context for reading the practice through the lens of gender theory, pointing out the gender divide and contextualization of specific fannish practices according to the gender of their authors. The critical and analytical strategies of fanvidders are examined historically within the Star Trek fandom (where fanvidding has originated and ourished) and analyzed on examples from both the history of vidding and its modern incarnations. This is achieved by close reading of the most significant examples of vidding in terms of fandom history and the changes in the vidding practice, in terms of technology employed by the vidders, and in term of the gender perspectives.

Amnezja historyczna

Author(s): Anna Frątczak / Language(s): Polish Issue: 2/2008

An Ad Hoc Nation. An Analysis of Moldovan Election Campaign Clips

Author(s): Julien Danero Iglesias / Language(s): English Issue: 04/2015

Since independence, nationalism has been at the front of politics in the Republic of Moldova in the context of a persisting political struggle about the very definition of the Moldovan nation. Looking at campaign video clips produced in 2009 by Moldovan political parties and using a methodology inspired by Critical Discourse Analysis, the article gives a better understanding of nationalism in Moldova nowadays. The article demonstrates that the focus of political parties on the nation is purely symbolic. They adapt their discourse to the context in which they evolve (audience of the videos and targeted voters). Pursuing the objective of gaining or holding on to power, parties construct an ad hoc nation whose content they fill with the needs of the moment, using mirroring arguments to win the elections over competing parties seen as enemies of an endangered country.

An Introduction to Information Laundering in the Nordic-Baltic Region

Author(s): Belén Carrasco Rodríguez / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

In an increasingly dynamic digital information environment, online communication patterns are constantly shifting, and hostile information influence activities are continuously adapting to spread influence faster and reach wider audiences. The use of Information Laundering techniques by Kremlin and pro-Kremlin actors is an outcome of this trend. Information Laundering (IL) has emerged as a security challenge in a context where global audiences are becoming highly reliant on online sources to obtain the information that will shape their opinions about current socio-political issues.

Analysis of Accessibility of Public Transport in Warsaw in the Opinion of Users

Author(s): Rafał Stachyra,Kamil Roman / Language(s): English Issue: 3/2021

Public transport in Warsaw is currently showing a dynamic development. The capital of Poland, as the largest city in the country, is constantly increasing spending on transport and implementing large investment projects, such as the expansion of the subway, which gives residents more opportunities for efficient movement within the agglomeration. Despite the implementation of these investments, there are still some sensitive places in Warsaw where access to public transport may be difficult. Given these conditions, a study of public transportation accessibility is warranted and socially needed. This article presents the results of a questionnaire survey conducted among Warsaw residents. The study included a group of 986 respondents, most people between the ages of 18 and 44. The analysis conducted looked at perceived accessibility of public transportation and satisfaction with public transportation services. As a result of the study, we could identify the main factors that influence passenger satisfaction, as well as examine transport accessibility in the social city of Warsaw. Conclusions from the study may be helpful for the city government to improve the functioning of public transport.

Andrzej Towiański, czyli prorok elektryczny. Medialność mesjanizmu w kontekście kultury celebryckiej

Author(s): Piotr Urbanowicz / Language(s): Polish Issue: 01/2019

In the paper the author presents Andrzej Towiański - an influential Polish messianist who established the Circle of God's Cause in Paris in 1840s – in relation to celebrity culture. Basing on theories of Chris Rojek, David Marshall and Birgit Meyer the author claims that the figure of a celebrity is deeply integrated into media. On the one hand the celebrity functions as a node in media network providing tools to integrate mass audience; on the other he is an actor, who sets complex aesthetic relations and thus establishes a community. In case of Andrzej Towiański and his disciples such aesthetic relations were formed via metaphors translating electricity into domain of religious exaltation. In conclusion, the author states that the references to electric science were the main reason for popularity of Andrzej Towiański and his efficacy in forming community.

Apathy and the Birth of Democracy: The Polish Struggle

Author(s): David S. Mason,Daniel N. Nelson,Bohdan M. Szklarski / Language(s): English Issue: 02/1991

Apathy, from the Greek words meaning "without feeling, " is at once a term denoting an individual's impassivity or indifference and a form of collective political behavior. Our concern is the latter form of apathy in Poland from the Solidarity period of 1980-81 to the present. Political apathy is the lack of psychological involvement in public affairs, emotional detachment from civic obligation, and abstention from political activity. But it is not any of these things alone, and these may be regarded as necessary, but not sufficient, components of political apathy. Political apathy is evidenced in mass, collective behavior but has its origins at the level of the individual psyche. [...]

Are you scared of what comes next? Students' future career anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic

Author(s): Alexandra Maftei,Andrei-Corneliu Holman,Acnana-Maria Pătrăuşanu / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2022

In the present study, we explored the mediating effects of depression from COVID-19 (DEPCOVID) and self-esteem (S-EST) on the relationship between fear of COVID-19 (F-COVID) and future career anxiety (C-ANX) in high-school and university students (N = 470, M = 20.17, SD = 2.02, 63.04% females). We were interested in exploring these relationships in both the overall sample and high school students and university students, separately. Our findings suggested that DEP-COVID partially mediated the relationship between F-COVID and C-ANX in both groups (i.e., high-school and university students). Self-esteem was not significantly correlated to our primary variables in high-school students. In university students, as well as the overall sample, results suggested the partially mediating role of S-EST on the relationship between fear of COVID-19 and C-ANX. We discuss our findings concerning the practices that may foster students’ career development in turbulent times and consider possible interventions for these specific groups following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Areas with Abandoned and Vacant Properties in Croatia. A Plea for Recognition, Research, Policies and the Development of Regeneration Strategies

Author(s): Sanja Lončar,Dario Pavić / Language(s): English Issue: 43/2020

This paper explores the phenomenon of areas with a large number of abandoned and vacant properties that have a significant impact on the life of communities in economic, environmental and socio-cultural terms. Although the phenomenon has been present in some parts of Europe and the USA for a number of decades, it has become more prevalent in recent decades. The aim of this paper is to explore whether the phenomenon of abandonment is present in contemporary Croatia, as a complex network of negative demographic, social, economic and environmental causes and impacts. Furthermore, the aim is to create a theoretical framework for research into areas with a large number of abandoned or vacant properties in Croatia. Quantitative analyses of key indicators, content analysis of published media and official documents, and ethnographic field research show that abandoned areas are certainly present in Croatia, as are local initiatives to mitigate the negative situation. The recognition of this phenomenon at national, regional and local level needs to be accompanied by the development of an interdisciplinary research methodology, policies and regeneration strategies. Some guidelines on these matters are provided at the end of the paper.

Around the Bloc: Bosnia Asks for Help With Rising Migrant Numbers

Author(s): TOL TOL / Language(s): English Issue: 04/04/2018

Overall, the number of migrants transiting the Balkans is down sharply, although traffickers are blazing new trails in the region.

Around the Bloc: Koran Burned at a Rally in Czech Republic

Author(s): TOL TOL / Language(s): English Issue: 07/12/2016

The summer season has done little to slow down one of the country’s most prominent, anti-Muslim activists.

Art Resistance against Russia’s “Non-Invasion” of Ukraine

Author(s): Nazar Kozak / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2022

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014, the Russian media ran what I propose to call a simulation of “non-invasion”—a spectacle aimed to distance Russia from the war. This essay explores activist art resistance against this simulation. Specifically, I discuss three art projects that were staged during the first, most violent year of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict: Mariia (Maria) Kulikovs'ka’s performance at “Manifesta 10” in St. Petersburg, Serhii Zakharov’s guerrilla installations on the streets of occupied Donetsk, and Izolyatsia’s #onvacation occupation of the Russian pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennale. These art projects, I argue, not only attacked the simulation from the outside as independent entities, but, by penetrating the simulation on site and online, they disrupted it from within. I offer three reasons to support this claim. First, these art projects superimposed images of the invasion over the physical sites where the “non-invasion” simulation dwelt and, in this way, not only made the war visible but also produced “a glitch in the matrix” effect—a conflict within the simulation visual regime that was inconsistent with its concealment function. Second, they “hailed” (in Louis Althusser’s terms) actants of the simulation as subjects of Putin’s regime, provoking suppressive reactions that proved Russia’s participation in the war—which the simulation, thus, failed to downplay. And third, with carefully orchestrated strategies of online outreach to the public, these art projects attached themselves to the media dimension of the simulation, making the simulation’s media proliferation work against itself.

ARTICULATING PROTEST LEGITIMACY: A CASE STUDY OF COLLECTIVE ACTION FRAMING IN AN ENVIRONMENTAL CAMPAIGN

Author(s): Tao Papaioannou / Language(s): English Issue: 4/2018

Using the case of the “Save Akamas” campaign, an environmental initiative protesting for the protection of the Akamas National Park in Cyprus during the Cypriot financial crisis in 2015 – 2016, this study explored whether and how the campaigners utilised collective action frames to enhance their articulation of protest legitimacy. Based on 15 interviews with key protest organisers, the results illustrated that the protestors creatively employed several collective action frames in their struggle for public recognition, contextualisation and amplification of protest grievances. These frames were purposefully aligned to protest legitimacy while taking into consideration of clearly identifying direction/locus of responsibility attribution, enlarging the interpretive scope of a symbolic act and augmenting credibility of the proffered frames through social media. Combining collective action framing analysis with empirical legitimacy research, this study contributes to further understanding of strategies and processes of legitimation in issue-based citizen protests within the sociological theory of collective action.

Aspecte ale stratificării sociale în contextul transformărilor sociale şi perspectivei de integrare europeană a Republicii Moldova. Note de cercetare

Author(s): Victor Mocanu,Angela Mocanu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 01/2015

The independence period of the Republic of Moldova conditioned important changes at the economic and political level. The deepest and most grievous changes, in terms of social cost, are those who have an impact on the social structure, the life conditions, the people’s behaviour and mentality. Social change refers to the modifications in the basic structures of the society, so it produces a quality and quantity passing to one level to another level of the social system. In this paper we present the results of a survey on a national-level in Moldova. The research was focused on the recent trends in social stratification in this former soviet country.Another issue was the evaluation of the current socio-political situation and the people’s orientations (towards Europe or towards the Euroasian Union).

Authoritarianism and Nationalism Challenges in Post-Soviet Space: Is there a Correlation between them?

Author(s): Olga Brusylovska / Language(s): English Issue: 04 (26)/2021

Political regimes in the former Soviet republics have evolved towards authoritarianism and vice versa. Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Ukraine became democratic; later – Georgia and Moldova; Azerbaijan and Armenia are semi-authoritarian; Russia, Belarus, and Kyrgyzstan are authoritarian; Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan became neo-totalitarian, with Kazakhstan and Tajikistan following them. In this article the author will try to answer the questions as to whether the main form of manifestation of nationalist contradictions in the republics of the former USSR is political confrontation, and if nationalist tendencies increase with the growth of authoritarian tendencies. The study found that there are fewer ethno-nationalist conflicts in Central Asian countries than in their more “democratic” neighbours; conflicts in autocracies are more likely to occur within the ethnic majority.

Authoritarianism, Conspiracy Theories and Covid-19 Pandemic in Serbia

Author(s): Sanja Lazarević Radak / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2021

By placing two key narratives about the origin and the implications of Covid-19 in the global context, the author analyzes their media representations in Serbia in order to highlight their potential correlation with widely understood authoritarianism. Conspiracy theories in Serbia are present in several interrelated and interdependent forms: 1. Theory of experimental totalitarianism; 2. Economic-political conspiracy; 3. Theory of the Third World War/New Order. Tensions and conflicts between the proponents of the official and unofficial versions of pandemic are visible, mostly on social media, and resemble other forms of filtering and dosing aggression against labeled enemies. In the moments of social crisis this becomes one of the basic characteristics of the authoritarian structure of personality. “Enemies” are stigmatized by various formulations, from “the masters of the new order”, to “the servants of the world pharmacomaphy.” Therefore, the aim of this paper is to make an overwiew of the most common conspiracy theories about Covid 19 in Serbia and to analyze them in the frames of theories that emphasize the importance of dogma within the authoritarian personality structure.

BAĞIMSIZ TÜRK DEVLETLERİNDE MİKRO FİNANSMAN

Author(s): Nurhodja Akbulaev / Language(s): Turkish Issue: 15/2012

Almost all societies have some citizens living in poverty. Although the most severe poverty is in the developing world, there is evidence of poverty in every region. The fight against poverty is usually regarded as a social goal and many governments have some dedicated institutions or departments. Poverty itself is also likely to be a barrier for poverty reduction. In general, the government can directly help those in need. However another method in helping to fight poverty is to use microfinance approach. Microfinance tries to fight global poverty and bring opportunities to the world’s poorest people. With tiny loans and financial services, it helps the poor, mostly women, start businesses and escape poverty. Also microfinance is not only financial aids for the poor but also its social improvements. As previous studies have implied sustainability and cost-effectiveness within the microfinance programme is important for the long-run poverty reduction in the Republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan. In this study focus on some solutions for Central Asia poverty problem such as mikrofinance approach. Also it examines the Republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan conditions the aspect of poverty and microfinance practices.

Banalita zla podle Václava Havla

Author(s): František Burda / Language(s): Czech Issue: 2/2021

The study looks at the analysis of the crowd phenomenon in the work of Václav Havel. It explores this phenomenon as a cultural-structural reality in an attempt to uncover it using the analytical tool of René Girard’s theory of culture. Girard’s theoretical starting points, which are crucial criticisms of the crowd, presuppose a methodological conversion of the reflecting subject. At the same time, they challenge any schematic distinction of authentic autonomous action, because they demarcate the mimetic nature of entire culture. As a result, they help to understand more deeply the structure of Havel’s absurd world, in which the myth produced by the system and power becomes an all-pervading authoritarian imperative. Furthermore, they give us a glimpse of the internal nature of the dynamics of the persecution mechanism that is prominently present in Havel’s plays, and outline the reasons why the designated enemy is held responsible for the chaos, disorder or disorder surrounding a period of crisis. Indeed, the main claimant of an innocent victim is the structure of the stereotypes of collective consciousness and unconsciousness in which we as individuals are mixed together. Last but not least, the study will look critically at the possibility of Havel distinguishing between living in truth and living in a lie.

Banalizacija politike u medijskoj sferi

Author(s): Semir Halilović / Language(s): Bosnian Issue: 3/2021

The whole of human history could be divided into two periods: the one when most people are formally deprived of the right to think and decide, as the first, or when people are allowed to "think" and "decide" within predetermined frameworks, as the second period. Today, in a time of formal democracy, people only seem to rule over the society of which they are members. The presence of democracy seems to be a mere framework in which, nominally, human freedom is proclaimed, which, once a monarchist "right", is today taken away by sophisticated methods of informatization and mediatization of human reality. It is a time of mediacracy, i.e. rule through the media, which are one of the basic means of controlling human behavior and emptying politics of the political in it. Politics is no longer an idea, but a product, and leaders are no longer leaders of nations, but corporate puppets. In such a game, politically active members of society become the object of manipulation by influencing their attitudes and decisions. That power belongs to the people is a constitutional principle that neoliberalism and mediacracy can disavow.

Bandyta społeczny

Author(s): Eric J. Hobsbawm / Language(s): Polish Issue: 33/2019

The essay is a translation of a chapter of Eric Hobsbawm’s classic book Primitive Rebels. Hobsbawm attempted to create an ideal model of a social bandit by analysing examples of European brigands from the thirteenth to the twentieth century. In the second part of the essay, the author reflects on the political potential of a social bandit, i.e. whether this kind of activity can effectively undermine existing hierarchies.