ОБРАЗЫ «МЫ» И «ОНИ» В МАССМЕДИЙНОМ ДИСКУРСЕ РЕЛИГИОЗНОГО ЭКСТРЕМИЗМА В ТАТАРСТАНЕ

Author(s): Aida Nailevna Nurutdinova / Language(s): Russian Issue: 6/2013

The article deals with the mass media discourse related to the terrorist attack occurred in summer 2012 in Kazan. The analysis of publications from the federal newspaper Rossiyskaya Gazeta and the regional newspaper Respublika Tatarstan made it possible to identify characteristic features of the images of “us” and “them” as well as similarities and differences in their representation. The ideological means used in the texts and contributing to the preservation or transformation of the relations of domination in the region are determined.

МЕДИАНАРРАТИВ ПОДЖОГОВ ПРАВОСЛАВНЫХ ЦЕРКВЕЙ В ТАТАРСТАНЕ: КОНТРКУЛЬТУРНЫЙ ФЕНОМЕН ИЛИ ПРЕСТУПЛЕНИЕ?

Author(s): Aida Nailevna Nurutdinova / Language(s): Russian Issue: 6/2014

The article analyzes the media narrative of arson attacks on Orthodox churches, which occurred in autumn 2013 in Tatarstan. The study of news programs on three national TV channels (Channel One, Russia and NTV) allowed us to identify the basic elements of the narrative’s plotline and the characteristic features of the images of “we” and “them” and their variations. The analysis revealed a transformation from the counter-cultural rhetoric of the messages to the criminal one, which served as a way of completion of the media narrative and formation of a complete picture of reality.

Ethnos (έθνος) a wyzwania społeczeństwa globalnego

Author(s): Areti Demosthenous / Language(s): English Issue: 5/2016

Ethnos is a broad term, often understood as an element in nation making, or else an umbrella term for the processes of building the modern nation. The academic discussion around ethnos nowadays is being challenged not only by the principles of globalization, and with them a possibility of a global village, where nations will or will not have an important role, but also the efforts to establish states based on faith and strong ideology on the part of some right wing parties or the supporters of the Muslim caliphate. This article presents a short study on the problems created by globalization and discusses the parameters of possible influences imposed on the nation by world coalitions and associations. It addresses questions like: Can the nation survive in a globalized society? What kinds of nations might be developed in the future? Is the Greek ethnos compatible with these developments? What is the relation of radicalization and terrorism to nation building?

Przedmowa do pierwszego numeru Studiów Krytycznych/Critical Studies

Author(s): Mariusz Baranowski,Sławomir Czapnik / Language(s): Polish Issue: 1/2015

Naturalisme et constructivisme dans la critique sociale radicale

Author(s): Boyan Znepolski / Language(s): French Issue: 45-46/2018

‘I Don't Want To be a Playa No More': An Exploration of the Denigrating Effects of ‘Player' as a Stereotype Against African American Polyamorous Men

Author(s): Leonard Justin Clardy / Language(s): English Issue: 11 (25)/2018

This paper shows how amatonormativity and its attendant social pressures converge at the intersections of race, gender, romantic relationality, and sexuality to generate peculiar challenges to polyamorous African American men in American society. Contrary to the view maintained in the “slut-vs-stud” phenomenon, I maintain that the label ‘player’ when applied to polyamorous African American men functions as a pernicious stereotype and has denigrating effects. Specifically, I argue that stereotyping polyamorous African American men as players estranges them from themselves and it constrains their agency by preemptively foreclosing the set of possibilities of what one’s sexual or romantic relational identities can be.

Автентичният реакционер

Author(s): Nicolás Gómez Dávila / Language(s): English,Bulgarian Issue: 4/2019

This short text presents Davila’s understanding of freedom and history beyond the notions of necessity, on the one hand, and arbitrariness, on the other hand, as well as beyond the rigid perspective of a unified dialectical-historical development. This understanding is embodied in the figure of the reactionary, who by his ideas, stands on the arena of modern times in opposition to the representative of necessity – the radical progressive, and the representative of historical arbitrariness – the liberal progressive. The authentic reactionary carries serene optimism, as he looks from the impasse of his situation in the present world towards a new horizon of essences, i.e., as he looks entirely beyond the world.

РИСКЪТ ОТ РАДИКАЛИЗАЦИЯ В КОНТЕКСТА НА ИНТЕНЗИВНА ИМИГРАЦИЯ

Author(s): Borislav Antonov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2019

The report analyzes the preconditions for radicalization of the Bulgarian society in the context of intensive entry of immigrants, the majority of whom are Muslims, coming from areas with combat activities. The main causes and motives of terrorist actions, drawn from Islamic dogmatics, are discussed. Finally, the report outlines state policies to minimize radicalization and its accompanying phenomena - Islamophobia and Europhobia.

Masculinity and Affectedness: An Intersectional Perspective on Gender, Power, and Activism in the Global South

Author(s): Sensenig Eugene Richard / Language(s): English Issue: 12 (26)/2019

Based on the concept of ‘affectedness’ (or ‘Betroffenheit’, Mies 1978), this articleattempts to demonstrate how all participants in research, education, and social activism in theMiddle East and North Africa (MENA) are impacted by the lack of a stable social environment,which is seen as the bedrock of scholarship by mainstream Northern theories and scientificmethodologies. Researchers, academics and activists – as part of civil society – must deal with thisintentional lack of security, social justice and freedom. In it we can recognize a form of eliteproduced, and potentially indefinite, postcolonial, systemic liminality. Whether women or men,from the Global South or North, we should consider how the topics we are studying and theconditions under which we work impact us individually and collectively. Inversely, we shoulddetermine how our endeavors directly impact the lives and environment of the subjects we areinteracting with. Reflection on the impact of affectedness-based research methods in the MiddleEast, and their application to work with men and masculinities in the region, is the maincontribution of this article.

The Persistence of Global Masculinism: Discourse, Gender and Neo-Colonial ReArticulations of Violence Lucy Nicholas and Christine Agius

Author(s): Jegić Denijal / Language(s): English Issue: 12 (26)/2019

Śmierć intelektualisty. Nareszcie!

Author(s): Jacek Zych / Language(s): Polish Issue: 16/2019

Until recently, the “intellectual” was a figure associated with many myths. Karl Marx abandoned a career as a bourgeois academic and journalist to become a permanent political exile; György Lukács gave a pen to a KGB officer, after he had been asked to lay down arms; Kuroń and Modzelewski wrote a “Letter to the Party,” and as a result they spent years in prison; Sartre declined the Nobel Prize… Now the figure of the intellectual is dead. The contemporary Polish academic could not be more distant from this topos. The contemporary Polish academic is a conformist and careerist producing articles in the same way a factory worker produces commodities. However, in contrast to the latter, the former is unable either to reflect on or to fight for anything, even himself. But although bourgeois economists believe that “There has been history, but there is no longer any” and will be content to convert intellectuals into wage labourers, history is only just beginning. Total alienation, the subsuming of the faculty of thought to the accumulation of capital, demands total rebellion.

Przychylność rzeźnika. Wizja ładu stowarzyszeniowego Edwarda Abramowskiego

Author(s): Andrzej Waśkiewicz / Language(s): Polish Issue: 16/2019

This article presents Edward Abramowski’s vision of an order based on associations such as cooperative businesses and self-help friendship unions. Abramowski imagined the new, grassroots-derived order to be the answer to the permanent disorder produced by capitalism and state coercion. Cooperatives are necessarily guided by the aim of economic profit, but that profit is divided equally among the cooperative members; friendship unions are guided by empathy and rely on reciprocity. Voluntary associations can provide nearly everything society needs in order to function. They can thus replace the state, including the socialist state, in which the institution of coercion – even if democratic – is inscribed. Abramowski thought that partitioned Poland could be reborn in this form, even while the nation remained formally under the sovereignty of the Russian tsar. The author of the article describes Abramowski’s vision of a reborn Republic as part of the current of “a-capitalist” utopias which derive from the Aristotelian concept of utility-based friendship. In the form of the sharing economy this current reappeared after the economic crisis of 2008.

ISLAMIC STATE AND JIHADIST MEDIA STRATEGIES IN THE POST-SOVIET REGION

Author(s): Ian MacWilliam / Language(s): English Issue: 9/2020

The Syrian war is the first of the modern Islamist “jihad” conflicts to have attracted large numbers of recruits from Central Asia and the post-Soviet region. Some 9,000 men and women from the post-Soviet republics travelled to Syria, including 4,000-7,000 Central Asians, many of them recruited in Russia. Why did the Islamic State’s caliphate attract such large numbers? Information manipulation was central to IS strategic planning and a primary factor in its unprecedented global recruiting success. IS produced Russian-language media content to build support among post-Soviet Muslims. At the same time, emerging communications networks are building ties between “Russianspeaking” Muslims and the Middle East. Jihadist media engagement in Russian and in Central Asian languages, exploiting these new networks, was a key factor in attracting Central Asians to support the caliphate.

Robin Pajtás Szabadiskolája. Az antiautoriter, közösségi és forradalmi nevelés egy gyakorlati kísérlete Magyarországon

Author(s): Robin Goodfellow Collective Robin Pajtás Kollektíva / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 28/2021

The Free School of Robin Goodfellow is a pedagogical initiative launched in 2014, the aim of which is to present an alternative – theoretical as well as practical – to the existing system of education. Since its foundation, the free school has been seeking to be a pioneer in the area of education, trying to put into practice the principles of an anti-authoritarian and communitarian education on the basis of a radical critique of society, supporting a revolutionary transformation of social relations.The authors of this essay have been among the founders of the free school, who summarize the key thoughts of their lectures and papers presented and published during the last several years. They also describe the programs organized by the free school, which range from shadow-plays to the modelling of processes that form the surface of the Earth. They also reflect on the difficulties – both objective and subjective – which have hindered the development of their pedagogical attempt, and hope to provide help for all those who are dissatisfied with the present educational system, while being open to a radical critique of capitalism and ready to act for a change.

„A demokrácia nem főnév, hanem ige. Csak akkor van, ha csináljuk!” Politikai oktatás a Közélet Iskolájában

Author(s): Éva Tessza Udvarhelyi,Ágnes Fernengel,Gabriella Csoszó / Language(s): Hungarian Issue: 28/2021

In this article we discuss the political education program of the School of Public Life, which works for a just and democratic society, where people regardless of their social status can participate in public life. Thus we host events where adult participants can learn about grassroots organizing, advocacy and movement building. In the article we discuss how this activist school was founded, our educational, research and strategic planning activities, the difficulties we face, and we also write about how we develop our curriculum. Finally we demonstrate our practice of critical pedagogy through the examples of three training series: Basics of organizing, Photography and activism and Municipal election workshops.

Political Messianism in Portugal, the Case of André Ventura

Author(s): João Ferreira Dias / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2022

The article aims to discuss Populist Radical Right (“PRR”) through the case of the Portuguese party, Chega (“enough”), presenting its leader, André Ventura, as a political Messiah. Confronting the literature, this article emphasises that, until Ventura came into the scene and contrary to the idea of Portuguese exceptionalism, populism was historically evident in Portuguese politics long before the advent of Chega. Although much has been written about the PRR party, this article presents its leader, André Ventura, in the frame of political messianism. Supporting the argument with tweets from Ventura, this article shows that the leader of Chega navigates the waters of Portuguese colonial memory, with its narrative of a country without racism and of political messianism with roots in Sebastianism in case of Portugal, a poetic-prophetic aspiration for the return of the political saviour. To acquire a religious aura, Ventura uses elements of popular Portuguese religiosity, such as the Miracle of Fatima.

Radical voters in rural areas of Slovakia and their role in the rise (and fall) of the ĽSNS party

Author(s): Natália Varabyeu Kancelová / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2024

The election of the far-right ĽSNS (People’s Party – Our Slovakia) to the Slovak National Council in 2016 was a turning point in domestic politics, and presented a particularly pronounced phenomenon of radical voting behavior. This paper builds upon field research conducted in several villages where the party achieved above-average election results in the 2016 parliamentary elections. Contrary to prevailing assumptions of a homogeneous ‘village fascism’, the study unveils the multifaceted nature of these communities by employing a mixed-methods approach that combines qualitative interviews and observations with quantitative questionnaires. A follow-up analysis of election results within these communities across successive parliamentary elections in 2020 and 2023 elucidates implications for ĽSNS’s, and its splinter party Republika’s, failure to re-enter the parliament in the snap elections of 2023. The study explores whether this decline can be attributed to shifts in voting patterns particularly towards the radicalized SMER-SD (Direction – Social Democracy) or SNS (Slovak National Party) that were able to form the new coalition. By shedding light on the dynamics between the social environment, political attitudes, and electoral outcomes in these villages, this paper aims to contribute to a deeper and more nuanced comprehension of voting behavior in rural Slovakia.

Book Review of Conceptualizing the Process of Radicalization among Ethnic and Religious Groups

Author(s): Georgi Stankov / Language(s): English Issue: 2/2024

Petar Atanassov. Conceptualizing the Process of Radicalization among Ethnic and Religious Groups. Plovdiv: Publishing Complex VUSI. 2024. 227 pages. ISBN (print): 978-610-7774-02-3. The reviewed book seeks to summarise and analyse the factors that influence the emergence and development of the radicalization processes on ethnic and religious bases, as well as their subsequent impact on national and international security. Through critical involvement with the existing theories and paradigms, the author develops a specific perspective on radicalization processes in the modern world. With a background of a professional historian and building on direct observations of public life in several countries, Petar Atanassov boldly delves into present-day and historical appearances of complicated social and political phenomena pertinent to radicalization. The study outlines the factors related to ethno-religious radicalization such as migration processes, social discrimination, religious propaganda, collective utopias, terrorism, etc. The author scrutinises a number of factors of radicalization, such as propaganda messages, instrumentalization of social problems for the purposes of radicalizing elements, and introduces a review of empirical data on the social profile of radicals in contemporary societies and on existing programs for de-escalation and de-radicalization of at-risk communities, for rehabilitation and reintegration of persons who participated in extremist groups, etc.

Чому сьогодні є запит на шістдесятників

Author(s): Olha Petrenko-Tseunova / Language(s): Ukrainian Issue: 03/2024

The resurgence of interest in the 1960s Ukrainian cultural movement, known as the Sixtiers, is evident in the recent popularity of exhibitions, films, and books. This movement, characterized by its defiance against Soviet oppression and its embrace of Ukrainian identity, resonates strongly today. The exhibition “Alla Horska. Borivyter” in Kyiv attracted nearly 51,000 visitors, highlighting the enduring appeal of Horska’s work and the broader Sixtiers’ legacy. The movement’s emphasis on rediscovering Ukrainian cultural heritage and fostering a sense of national pride is particularly relevant in the context of ongoing conflict. The Sixtiers’ commitment to artistic and intellectual freedom, as well as their solidarity in the face of repression, offers valuable lessons for contemporary society. Their legacy continues to inspire new generations, underscoring the importance of cultural resilience and the fight for national identity.

Репродуктивно ли е класовото неравенство при гимназиите в София? Изследване с данни от софийски гимназии

Author(s): Stoycho Rusinov / Language(s): Bulgarian Issue: 1/2025

This study examines the social efficiency of elitised secondary education in Sofia. The focus is on the reproduction of class inequality in the context of the sociology of education. Data from the Bulgarian educational system is used, specifically the minimum admission scores, which are calculated as a combination of the results from the 7th-grade exams for each school, and the school performance on the 12th-grade Bulgarian language and literature matriculation exam, to investigate the relationship between students' socio-economic background and their achievements. The results indicate that the minimum admission score from 7th grade, five years earlier, significantly correlates with matriculation exam performance, highlighting the system's inefficiency in overcoming class differences and educational inequalities. The study offers a comparative analysis with the educational systems of Germany, Austria, and France, emphasizing the need for reforms in the Bulgarian context.